The Fragility of Time
by etj4Eagle
Summary: A disruption in the timestream sends ChibiUsa on her second trip into the past too far, arriving just after Nephlyte's death. However she was not the only time displaced person and now the novice Senshi have to face R and S threats as well.
1. And so it Begins

The Fragility of Time  
by etj4Eagle  
etj4eagle@yahoo.com  
http://www.geocites.com/etj4eagle  
Revised 9/9/00  
  
Note: Prologue has been compiled into same document as chapter 1, as  
of Dec 6th, 2000 to circumvent the problem of its link never seeming  
to work on stef-chan's site.  
  
Author's notes:  
  
The timeline for this story takes place during the first season. But   
as you probably can gather from the title that will quickly mean   
little. The premise for this story came to me one afternoon while   
working with my group on our reactor design. We had a reactor that   
would quickly over pressurize if its cooling pumps were to ever   
break. That set me thinking about where else would the word "Oops" be   
bad to here. From there, it was a quick jump to what if something   
went really wrong at the Gate of Spacetime; Pluto saying oops would   
be a very bad thing.   
  
Quite a few other shows make cameo appearances in this story. The   
first few chapters are a slight crossover with Voyage, however don't   
worry if you have not seen the series, as they disappear from the   
story pretty quickly. I have borrowed Bill Harris's idea of Pluto and   
Q knowing each other. I am a major fan of the Babylon 5 series by   
JMS, hence B5 fans will notice that many of themes are present here   
as well. They are a homage to great series, but knowledge of Babylon   
5 again is not necessary for enjoyment or understanding of this   
story.  
  
The prologue and first chapter have a fair amount of techno-babble in   
them. It is not necessary for understanding the story. It is   
basically used to described how I see Pluto and her job. In that, she   
does not see time like the rest of us, but as an evolution of time.   
She is always trying to perfect the time-line. This is my   
interpretation of the Pluto present in the Tales of Younger Senshi by   
Tuxedo Will and Douglas Helm.  
  
I hope that the above has not scared away any potential readers. This   
is my first attempt at Fan fiction so I welcome all comments and   
suggestions.  
  
And for the Obligatory disclaimers:  
I do not own any of the characters here; they are part of commercial   
television broadcasts. Sailor Moon in the US is distributed by DIC   
and is originally a Japanese Anime. Voyager is part of the Star Trek   
enterprise and is owned by Paramount. Babylon 5 is owned by Warner   
Brothers and JMS.  
  
Distribution of this document is to always be free. You may post it   
wherever you like. However, I ask for notice on where it is being   
posted. It gives me an idea of its spread and I can ensure that if   
changes need to be made they can be to all copies.  
  
-Eagle  
____________________  
  
  
Prologue:  
  
Time is very fragile. Most people do not stop to consider the   
fragileness of time, for they travel from the past to the future at a   
constant rate. But for the one who guards the Gate of Spacetime, she   
knew all too well how fragile movement along that fourth dimension   
really is. Ideally, she had thought to herself many times in the past   
the Gate should just be destroyed. Even if that was possible without   
destroying the megaverse, the future was dependent on temporal   
paradoxes created by non-standard travel along the fourth dimension,   
i.e. time-travel.  
  
The Guardian of Spacetime knew all too well that the future was   
fluid. Her job was to ensure that disturbances placed into the time-  
stream did not affect the basic nature of the future: the utopia that   
will be known as Crystal Tokyo. To her, time did not have any real   
significance other than being one more dimension of the universe. She   
had already been present for Small Lady's befriending of Hotaru more   
times than she could remember. But, until the future of Small Lady   
was unchanged between trips to the past, she would have to help the   
Sailor Senshi in the past again. The time was approaching when she   
would need to leave the Gate once again and return to a linear   
existence. Her total knowledge of the future would disappear, but she   
would get to see Small Lady once again.  
  
It appeared that she would need to find Q once again. While that   
omnipotent life form could be annoying at times, he did make a good   
stand in guardian of the gate. Of course nothing ever came to the   
gate when she was not around, that was not the way things worked at   
the gate. But, it never hurt to let Q think he was being useful, it   
made him much more easier to work with when his help was really   
needed.   
  
"So, you almost packed for your trip?" As if answering her thoughts   
about needing to find him, Q materialized at the gate.  
  
*********  
Some where in the Delta Quadrant and displaced along the universe's   
fifth dimension  
  
"Captain the Singularity Slip Stream Drive is completed"  
  
Captain Janeway turned around to look at her chief engineer.   
Lieutenant Torres had a rarely seen glimmer in her eyes betraying   
barely withheld excitement. Of course, that excitement was   
understandable. Voyager potentially now had a drive that would allow   
instantaneous travel throughout the galaxy. And, unlike the previous   
trial with the Quantum Drive a few years ago, this one did not show   
any signs of ripping the ship to shreds. Heck, it even appeared to be   
safer than standard warp travel.  
  
Janeway did not pretend to understand the physics behind this   
technology. While she was a scientist by training and at heart, the   
theoretical physics involved here were just too much. Thankfully, for   
the crew, Torres and Seven did understand it. What she did know was   
that the drive would utilize the fifth dimension to traverse the ship   
to a common area in the megaverse (a singularity) and then traverse   
them back to any point in their dimension.  
  
"That is great news Torres, how long till we can bring the drive on-  
line?"  
  
"About a week captain. I would like to run some tests on the drive to   
make sure that we assembled it correctly and that we were correct   
about the physics."  
  
"A wise percussion considering the problem with our last slipstream   
drive." As Torres left, Janeway was left wondering what it would be   
like to see Earth again in a week.  
  
*********  
30th Century Crystal Tokyo  
  
"Small Lady, you are going to need to into the past again." Neo-queen   
Serenity informed her only child.  
  
"Mother, why do I need to go into the past again?"  
  
"It is time for you to train to be a Sailor Senshi. Take this locket   
and with the words: 'Moon Prism Power Makeup' you will become Sailor   
Moon." As Serenity handed her daughter the locket, Princess Usagi's   
eyes became as wide as could be.   
  
Grasping the locket, she called out "Moon Prism Power Makeup!"   
Instantly the energy shout out of her body first dissolving her   
princess dress and then covering her body with ribbons that rippled   
into her Sailor Fuku. Left standing in front of Serenity was a   
flamingo-haired pink-outfitted Sailor Moon. "Thank you mother. But,   
why do I need to go into the past to train? Can't I just train here   
in the future with the others?"  
  
Laughing gently Serenity grabbed her daughter up into her arms before   
answering the question. "I would love it greatly if you could do your   
training here, but your training will be much more effective in the   
past. Also you will get to learn from the master, myself."  
  
Unable to resist the opening Usagi decided to taunt her mother. "Oh   
you mean, you need my help to keep yourself from klutzing out during   
the battles. Don't worry I will take good care of you in the past   
mother."  
  
"Hey I was not that bad." Serenity pouted while Usagi looked on   
dubiously before they both broke out into a spat of giggles. As the   
laughter calmed down Serenity told Usagi the other reason why she   
needed to go into the past. "Usagi you will also make a special   
friend in the past. Now you better go get packed. I believe Pluto   
will be coming for you in an hour.  
  
As Princess Usagi bounced onto the floor and ran out of the room,   
Serenity thought about her daughter's taunt. How true that comment   
really was. Usagi would befriend both Hotaru and Pegasus during her   
trip back in time. Heck Serenity even remembered the situation that   
she and Mars were in when ChibiMoon made her appearance. If it were   
not for ChibiMoon, both she and Mars would be a lot flatter today.  
  
  
  
The Fragility of Time  
Chapter 1: "And, So it Begins"  
Author: etj4Eagle  
Email: etj4Eagle@yahoo.com  
http://www.geocities.com/etj4eagle  
Lasted Edited: 9/9/00  
  
Disclaimer: A reminder I own none of the characters of this story,   
all rights are owned by others.   
If you distribute the story, do only   
so freely and inform me of where you post it.  
  
_______________________________________  
  
  
"Small Lady, are you ready for your trip into the past?" Questioned   
the guardian of time: Sailor Pluto.  
  
"Hai, I have all I need. It will be fun taunting Onee-san again."  
  
Pluto internally winced at what her queen would have to go through.   
But, at the very least Small Lady's visits helped her majesty become   
the understanding and patient queen that she was in the future.   
Anyways she knew that her majesty treasured these visits by small   
lady. So, she instead faintly smiled at small lady, turned around,   
and using her staff opened a portal to the Gate of Spacetime.   
  
Arriving at the gate she turned around facing Small Lady to remind   
her about what not to do when she was in the past. "Pu I remember   
your talks on not revealing the future, you don't have to give them   
all to me again."  
  
Pluto smiled, knowing that Small Lady would never do anything to mess   
up the future, but the instruction were part of the ritual. So   
satisfied with Small Lady's statement she pulled out one of her   
crystal time keys and handed it to her. Standing back, she unlocked   
the Gate of Spacetime and watched as Small Lady bounced her way into   
the gate with Luna-P following quickly behind her.  
  
In a short period, Small Lady would be in the past. Then it would be   
time for her to return to the linear world as well. But, at a point   
in time before Small Lady arrived, there were items to take care of   
and setup before the Planet Busters' mess began.  
  
"Don't worry she will make it there fine. Though, I don't know why   
you don't send her on a side excursion first" mocked Q as he appeared   
once again at the Gate.  
  
"Q, I thought I told you to stay out of site till I called for you."  
  
"You worry too much Pluto. In all the time that we have known each   
other have you known me to screw up like that."  
  
Pluto had to admit that while Q could be childish at times. His   
pranks never really caused lasting trouble. And, those who were the   
recipients of his pranks usually could use some pointing, though   
rarely did they deserve the type of guidance that Q would provide.   
But at least he proved to be a somewhat enjoyable companion. There   
were other beings in the megaverse that were much more dreadful to be   
around.  
  
*********  
The Delta Quadrant  
  
"Status Mr. Kim"  
"Captain, engineering reports the Singularity Drive is on-line and   
ready to engage. All systems look good and we can enter the   
slipstream at your command." Replied the Ops officer, Harry Kim.  
  
"Mr. Paris Engage the Singularity Drive"  
  
Tom Paris turned back to his station and prepared the ship to enter   
the slipstream. The ship was already cruising at warp 9 and as he   
entered the commands the nacelles gave an additional burst of energy   
and the ship jumped into the slipstream leaving their universe. No   
longer was the ship constrained to be fixed to one point on the fifth   
dimension. Now it moved freely amongst them all. As the drive   
continued to pulse, the ship began to merge with the very fabric of   
Spacetime itself.  
  
*********  
In the Time Stream  
  
Princess Usagi looked around herself fascinated by what she saw. The   
previous two times through the time stream, she did not take the   
opportunity to enjoy the journey. This was quite understandable as   
the first time the Dark Moon Family was after her and her mother was   
encased in a crystal. And, when she returned after that trip she was   
too eager to see her loved ones safe and sound again. But, this time   
she was in no rush and could take a little time to enjoy the trip.  
  
The stream was a fascinating display of lights as the stream twisted   
and contorted itself. However, she always kept focused on her   
destination. She did not want to get lost in the time-stream. Pluto   
had only opened one path for her, and if she lost that path, she   
would be forever trapped in the time-stream. While that risk may have   
worried a grown adult, Usagi barely paid it any attention as she   
traveled down the path.  
  
A light flash to her right grabbed her attention. That thing looks   
different from the rest of the stream. She thought to herself. The   
object in question appeared to have an oval like structure, was   
grayish and was definitely not a natural part of the stream. While to   
her it looked no bigger than a cat, it was in reality far larger than   
that. From its rear half protruded two long thin cylinders, which   
glowed a soft blue. As she watched they began to pulse and to her   
surprise, her crystal time key began to pulse as well. Suddenly there   
was a bright flash of light. Her last thought before the light hit   
her was her wondering what her mother was like when she first became   
Sailor Moon.  
  
*********  
Voyager: Also in the Time Stream  
  
Soon after Paris engaged, the singularity drive the ship had begun to   
transverse the fifth dimension. As the bridge crew gazed out the main   
viewer, they observed the singularity. Strange how the singularity   
appears to have dimensions. I will need to look at those theories   
again to understand what I am seeing here. Janeway's musings were   
interpreted by a warning klaxon going off. "Mr. Kim report."  
  
"Captain, I am detecting another energy signature in the   
singularity." Harry reported  
  
"Confirmed, there is a second energy signature and it is beginning to   
pulse." Seven added. With that comment, the ship shook violently.   
Quickly sizing up the situation Seven added: "Captain our warp   
engines have begun to pulse with that other energy source. In   
addition our pulses are resonating with each other."  
  
Following that pronouncement the ship began to shake nonstop. Tom   
Paris hands rapidly flew over the helm controls trying to stabilize   
the ship. But his efforts were to no avail, as the shaking kept   
getting worse.  
  
"Warning, structural integrity field failure." The ship's computer   
added.  
  
Janeway saw the situation quickly spiraling out of control. If action   
was not taken soon there would be no Voyager left to make it back to   
earth. "Mr. Paris disengage the Singularity Drive and then bring us   
to a full stop."  
  
As Mr. Paris disengaged the drive system, the engines gave one final   
pulse, which this time set off a brilliant flash of light. Voyager   
was propelled back into real space. While everyone was reasonable   
okay, the ship was a different story. The final pulse fried both the   
warp core and the backup fusion reactors for the impulse engines. The   
ship was left tumbling dead in an unknown region of space.  
  
*********  
The Gate of Spacetime  
  
". Now remember Q if anyone should approach the gate give me a call   
and I will return right away."  
  
"Pluto I have known you for millennia, you should know by now that I   
know what to do. Take a vacation have some fun. Heck, after your done   
with your little job why don't you take me up on my offer to visit   
Jean-Luc. I hear he has a nice new ship to play with." As Pluto gave   
Q an evil eye, he amended his statement to "or you could just pay a   
social call."  
  
Suddenly Pluto shivered and twirled around to face the gate. "Pluto   
is something wrong?"  
  
"I am not sure but. DUCK!!" Pluto suddenly cried out before diving   
for what passed as the ground here. Q too startled by her sudden   
declaration was caught off guard, as the gates were suddenly blown   
open by a large shockwave.   
  
Slowly getting up, Pluto found a very dazed and banged up Q on the   
ground. "Owe that hurt a lot." Pronounced Q. "What the heck just   
happened?"  
  
"There has been a disturbance in the time stream. You were hit by the   
temporal discharge. "Oh no, Small Lady!" The guardian cried out as   
she realized who was probably still in the stream at the time of the   
blast. Unfortunately, she could not take the time to check on Small   
Lady's condition, as the damage from the blast would need to be   
rectified first. Left unchecked the instabilities caused by the blast   
could destroy all of time. Looking at the flow of time closely, Pluto   
quickly realized that the damage was beyond bad, it was critical.   
Normally there was always some leeway in the future, but now it was   
completely fluid.  
  
As she watched, the fluidity moved quickly along the fourth dimension   
into the past. Pluto was lost as to the course of action to take to   
stop the collapse of the future she was charged with protecting. But,   
then the front of fluidity stopped. As she examined the time-line,   
she saw that her queen was safe. And, to her delight, she saw that   
Small Lady had also safely made it into the past. However, it   
appeared that her temporal destination was off, but with what   
happened, that was a minor price for her safety.   
  
Therefore, Pluto decided to begin on her task of repairing the Gate   
of Spacetime and to figure out what had caused the blast that almost   
destroyed the megaverse itself. It looks like Q might actually be   
of some use, but he will need to rest and recover his strength first   
Pluto mused to herself. The task of repairing the damage while   
tedious did have one major advantage, in that it kept her from   
thinking about the consequence of the fluidity of the future. Pluto   
was used to knowing all of time from her place at the Gate of Space-  
Time, but now she could only see up to the point where Small Lady   
arrived in the past. Everything else was unknown to her. The Gate   
itself had become linear once again, and that frightened her very   
dearly.  
  
*********  
Tokyo, 20th Centaury  
  
Over an alley, a pink cloud appeared and just as quickly disappeared,   
but not before spitting out a pink haired child. Small Lady came   
flying out upside down and on a trajectory for a landing in a   
dumpster. "Yuck. Pu there better be a good reason why you had me   
deposited in a dumpster." The pink haired child said picked her self   
up and cleaned herself off. That's odd, where is Luna-P Luna-P   
was always hovering around the princess and its absence was a source   
of worry for Small Lady. Looking around she came across a saddening   
sight as she found Luna-P shredded a couple meters away from her.   
  
"Oh no, Luna-P" she cried out as she picked up the remains of the   
floating cathead. Just great, first I land in garbage and then I   
find Luna-P destroyed. Without it, I won't be able to hypnotize or   
alter anyone's memories. I just hope that Mercury was right when she   
said the hypnotism would still hold on Ikuko-mama and Kenji-papa from   
last time. Well I probably should go find Usagi and tell her that I   
am visiting" ChibiUsa told herself.  
  
-End Chapter 1  



	2. Tsukino Usagi Squared

The Fragility of Time  
Chapter 2: "Tsukino Usagi Squared"  
Author: etj4Eagle  
Email: etj4Eagle@yahoo.com  
http://www.geocities.com/etj4eagle  
Lasted Edited: 9/9/00  
  
Disclaimer: A reminder I own none of the characters of this story,   
all rights are owned by others.   
If you distribute the story, do only   
so freely and inform me of where you post it.  
  
_______________________________________  
  
"Zoisite, there recently was a large energy discharge in the Tokyo   
area. I want to you to check it out." Commanded the leader of the   
Dark Kingdom, Queen Beryl.   
  
Zoisite gave her affirmative before teleporting out of the throne   
room. I do not want to play recon boy fumed the longhaired general.   
I should be out looking for the Nijizuishou Crystals. Well she did   
not say that I couldn't do both. And if I bring her back one of the   
crystals and info about that energy source, she will be very   
pleased. with things decided, Zoisite teleported to Tokyo to begin   
his recon.  
  
*********  
  
Wandering down the street, the pink haired child caught site of the   
two people she loved most in the world, her mother and father. But,   
something did not seem right.  
  
"Odango-atama try to keep better track of your shoes. I do not like   
being hit on the head by them. Though I guess it is a bit too much to   
ask from someone like you" An aloof Mamoru chided Usagi.   
  
"Do not call me Odango-atama! Humph!" yelled Usagi as she grabbed her   
shoe back and then stalked off in the opposite direction.  
  
ChibiUsa was absolutely appalled by what she had just seen. This did   
not appear to be one of her parents' normal fights. Even when Mamo-  
chan was actively avoiding Usagi last time, he still talked to her   
with respect. But here he talked down to her as if she was only a   
kid. Something must have happened to Mamo-chan's memory again. This   
must be why Mama wanted me to come back to the past. Her past self   
needed an assurance that things would still work out, an assurance   
that I provided by just existing. And so, ChibiUsa ran off after   
the disappearing Usagi.  
  
"Usagi-chan, wait up!" called out ChibiUsa.  
  
The older girl turned around to face the unfamiliar voice that called   
out her name. As she looked at the owner of the voice, she was taken   
back by the striking resemblance of the young girl to herself. She   
even had her trademark hairstyle, though it could use a little more   
hair. "Yes?" she questioned the child.  
  
ChibiUsa was a little puzzled by the sedate response she got, Usagi   
appeared not even to really recognize her. "Usagi what happened   
between you and Mamo-chan?"  
  
Usagi was taken back by the familiar use of names that this young   
girl was using. She appeared to know who she was, but Usagi had no   
recollection of this young girl. "Who are you? And if you are related   
to the stuck up Mamoru-san you can just leave me be." As Usagi   
finished her statement, she saw a flicker of possibly fear flash   
across the face of the child.  
  
"Momma you don't remember who I am. I am Tsukino Usagi, your   
daughter." ChibiUsa timidly replied.  
  
Even more confused Usagi replied "I am only 14, I can't have a child.   
And Tsukino Usagi is my name." That statement combined with the shock   
of the abnormal trip through time catching up with the small child   
she broke down into tears. One thing that remained the same with   
Usagi throughout her life was her large heart. Seeing the tears   
starting to stream down the face of the child caused her to drop her   
cross-examination and to instead wrap the child up in her arms.   
"Don't worry everything will be okay. I will help you find your   
Mamma." Usagi tried to reassure the child. Ugh, what is that smell   
on her?   
  
"Usagi you are my mother. I am from the future. And I am called   
ChibiUsa here in the past" The small child choked out. Then she   
remembered the note that she had for her mother of the past. Reaching   
into her dimensional pocket, she pulled it out and handed it out to   
the older girl. "Usagi-chan you gave me this to give to your past   
self before I left."  
Taking the letter the older girl opened it and began to read. Maybe   
this girl is telling the truth, I do feel some kind of connection.   
And that lady in the picture does kind of look like me. She does   
apparently know that I am Senshi and, looking unhappy at the bottom   
of the letter, about my poor grades in school. "ChibiUsa what does   
the 'NQS' stand for her at the bottom of the letter?"  
  
This called the little child to give a little laugh. "Usagi no baka,   
it stands for Neo-Queen Serenity." Upon seeing Usagi's blank stare   
she added, "That is the name you go by in the future." Usagi was   
about to laugh at the notion of her being a queen, but stopped upon   
seeing the sincerity in the little child's eyes.   
  
Unfortunately before their reunion could proceed any further, Usagi's   
communicator began to beep. Taking it out, Usagi activated it,   
bringing Rei's face up on the display. "Usagi-chan we have a youma   
running around the park." Sending her an affirmative, Usagi switched   
it off and was about to turn to tell the young child to wait for her   
while she went to fight.  
  
But before she got the chance, ChibiUsa voiced her own plans.   
"Remember that I am supposed to train with you guys." Before Usagi's   
objection, she added "I can henshin as well." With it settled the two   
girls headed off to the park.  
  
*********  
  
Upon arriving at the park, they found Mars and Mercury fighting a   
monster that seemed to have an obsession with scissors. Mercury and   
Mars were currently dodging a large volley of the sharp pointed   
objects. Quickly finding a space of little notice the two girls   
pulled out their lockets and called out "Moon Prism Power Make-Up."   
Moments later out stepped two pretty-suited warriors of love and   
justice, one in blue and the other in pink.   
  
"Hold in right there!" called out Sailor Moon. "Didn't your mother   
ever tell you not to play with scissors, you might hurt someone."  
  
"I think that was its plan." commented Sailor ChibiMoon.  
  
Ignoring the interruption, Sailor Moon continued with her preamble.   
"I fight for love and justice. I will triumph over evil, I am the   
pretty suited soldier Sailor Moon. And in the name of the moon."  
  
"And the future moon." added ChibiMoon before they both ended with   
".we will punish you."  
  
"NANI?!?" called out both Mars and Mercury. Mars being a little too   
distracted by the pint sized extra Moon promptly proceeded to run   
into a tree. Unfortunately, the tree was not forgiving of her   
momentary distraction and Mars slumped to the ground.  
  
The creature decided to take the momentary distraction of the sailor   
senshi to release a large spread of scissors. With a slight   
awkwardness, both Moon and ChibiMoon barely managed to dodge out of   
the way. Mercury, realizing that cover was needed, called out her   
Shabon Spray, covering the clearing in fog.  
  
"Pink Sugar Heart Attack." Came the cry from ChibiMoon, though it   
needed to be repeated twice before the attack actually came out of   
the wand. The still confused monster suddenly was hit in the rear of   
its head by a stream of pink hearts. While they did not do much   
damage, their pain kept of the attention of the monster long enough   
for Mars to pick herself back up and toss a fireball at the creature.  
  
"Now, Sailor Moon" called out Mercury.  
  
"Hai," removing her tiara, Moon called "Moon, Tiara Action." And   
flung the disc of energy at the creature. In its weakened state, the   
creature succumbed to the power of the moon and turned into a pile of   
moon dust. But surprising all present, a small crystal with a dark   
upturned crescent moon in it also fell into the pile of dust before   
going dark.  
  
"A new type of Youma?" questioned Mars "they have never done that   
before."  
  
Mercury pulled out her computer to scan the remains of the youma. But   
it was ChibiMoon who provided the answer. "It can't be, they have   
been defeated." Visibly trembling the child threw herself at Moon and   
buried herself in her mother's arms.  
  
Noticing the fear on the child's face, Usagi tried to calm her down.   
"Its okay muzume I will protect you. Who or what is supposed to be   
dead?"  
  
The other two senshi already were paying close attention to the child   
upon hearing her outburst and now their mouths were hanging open with   
Usagi referring to that little child as her daughter. However, before   
either of the two could voice their confusion, the child of their   
questions answered Usagi's question. "That was a droid and they were   
created by the Black Moon family. They were after me the last time I   
was here."  
  
Well that explains why it appeared to be substantially different   
from a youma. It isn't one. Though does that mean we have another   
enemy to deal with as well. And what does she mean by the last time   
she was here? thought Mercury. Realizing the need to get some   
answers and the desire to move to some place quieter, she suggested   
to the others that they move to the shrine.  
  
*********  
The realm of the Gate of Spacetime  
  
A weary Pluto took another look at the time-stream. The damage had   
finally been contained. Unfortunately, the damage was much more   
serious than she initially thought. Initially it looked like the   
damage was just the return to fluidity of the future in front of when   
Small Lady arrived in the past. But, now she realized that the damage   
managed to snag other travels that had traveled the stream both   
before and after this particular trip of Small Lady.  
  
She could not yet tell who these other travelers were, only that they   
arrived within a month of Small Lady's arrival in the past. She   
herself would soon need to return to linear time, to attempt to guide   
the flow back to an approximation of the future that it once ran   
towards. While she no longer knew the flow of time, she could still   
feel the general heading of time's flow when she was in the linear   
world and attempt to direct it towards where it should go.  
  
Much as she wanted to go and start assuring the future of Crystal   
Tokyo, she could not yet leave her realm. The damage may have been   
repaired, but the time stream was still unstable. It would require   
more work before she could leave it unattended for a while. But, she   
could astrally project herself into the past for a time. With a   
course of action set, she set about preparing for the projection.  
  
*********  
The shrine  
  
Luna regarded the child who still clung to Usagi's body. While she   
was still trembling, she was only trembling slightly now. Ami-chan   
and Rei-chan had just gotten finished telling her about the battle.   
As usual, Usagi did not add anything to the discussion, however, this   
time it was not because of her goofing off, but because she was   
trying to calm a still very scared child.  
  
Usagi catching the eyes of Luna decided that it was time for the   
child to meet the cat. "ChibiUsa-chan do you know Luna-chan?" Usagi   
questioned the child.  
  
Hearing a familiar name caused the pink haired child to whirl around   
and regard the cat. Then with a refound burst of energy jump out of   
Usagi's arms and quickly closed the distance and pick the surprised   
cat up. "Hai, Momma and don't you think that she looks so kawaii when   
she has something to say, but is trying to keep her mouth shut?"  
  
Usagi made her agreement known with a burst of laughter. Luna   
responded by just getting an even deeper scowl on her face. Deciding   
that Luna had enough torture, "Luna-chan it is okay to talk with   
ChibiUsa around."  
  
Deciding that she wanted answers badly enough, Luna decided to go   
with her charge's assessment of the situation. "Hello ChibiUsa-chan."   
She politely acknowledged the child. ChibiUsa responded by petting   
the cat and then setting her back down on the ground. After getting   
into a comfortable lecture position, wrapping her tail around   
herself, the black cat began her questioning. "Okay Usagi-chan who is   
she and why is she calling you Momma."  
  
With the other two girls now leaning in waiting for her response,   
well here it goes thought Usagi before she began. "Well this is   
Tsukino Usagi, my daughter."  
  
"NANI?!?" called out the two girls and one cat. "How can she be your   
daughter, she looks to be around half your age." Demanded Rei.  
  
"If you would let me finish." Ordered Usagi with a force the others   
had not seen before. Quickly they quieted down with sheepish   
expressions on their faces. "I am not sure exactly how, but she is   
from the future, and she gave me this letter from my future self."   
With that, she held out the letter to Rei and watched the three of   
them read it.  
  
Luna for her part did not get past the picture of ChibiUsa's mother   
clipped to the top of the letter. Instead, half remembered memories   
of her princess crowded into her mind. That woman looks so much like   
Usagi, but she has the crescent moon sigil on her forehead. She also   
looks a lot like princess Serenity with the white hair.  
  
It was Ami-chan who first spoke. "Usagi what does the 'NQS' stand   
for"  
  
ChibiUsa deciding to field that question answered. "Neo-Queen   
Serenity, it is what Usagi goes by in the future."   
  
"How can Odango-Atama be a queen, and her name is not Serenity."   
Challenged Rei.  
  
"Actually she will be queen and her real name is Serenity." Replied a   
voice from behind the group. This caused the three inquisitors to   
jump, startled by the sudden presence behind them. Turning they all   
saw a projection of a women appearing to be in her late-twenties   
wearing a sailor fuku and holding a large staff resembling a key. She   
came forward and knelt in front of Usagi while announcing herself.   
"My princess, future queen, I am the Guardian of Spacetime, Sailor   
Pluto."  
  
Just as expected by Pluto, her future queen immediately protested the   
formality she had used. "Ahhh, don't kneel in front of me." After a   
pause the future queen continued with "You are a sailor senshi? Are   
you a ghost?" The last statement came when she realized that women in   
front of her was not a whole person but only an image, and was spoken   
with a trembling voice.  
  
Laughing slightly, Pluto stood back up and continued. "You never   
change Princess Serenity. I am a Sailor Senshi and no I am not a   
ghost, however, this is only a projection of myself. My body is back   
at the Gate of Spacetime." Turning to address the rest of the crowd,   
she continued, "The reason why I am here now is to explain some of   
what happened. Small Lady was traveling not to this time frame but to   
one a little over a year in the future."  
  
With that statement, ChibiUsa suddenly realized why everything seemed   
off, and why no one remembered her. She had not yet met them for the   
first time. However, she still did not understand why there was a   
droid running around. She new her history and those things only were   
present while she was in the past. "Pu, why did I end up here, and   
why did you dump me in that dumpster?" questioned the child.  
  
"That's why you had that awful smell on you, when I first found you."   
stated Usagi who appeared to think that she had just made the most   
important revelation in history.  
  
"Sorry about that Small Lady. During your trip back, there was a   
burst of energy in the time-stream. Some travelers from another   
universe, not realizing the nature of the technology they were   
attempting to use to get home almost succeeded in destroying time for   
the whole megaverse. As it is, they did manage to severely damage the   
time-stream for this universe." Seeing blank stares from everybody   
but Ami-chan, Pluto decided to skip the background reason and just   
hit on the major effect. "The end result is that the future is now   
totally fluid, I can no longer see it from the gate."  
  
At the sight of Small Lady's features about to break, Pluto felt her   
heart go out to the child. She wished she could make this next part   
easier. "Small Lady your home, the future, no longer exists. You will   
have to stay here until the flow of time is stabilized enough that I   
can see the future though the Gate of Spacetime. Right now I can see   
the past, but nothing past the present that you are all living."   
Taking a long breath, she continued. "I have to returned to the Gate   
now. Small Lady I leave the shaping of the future to your hands. And,   
take good care of your mother." With that, her conscience returned to   
her realm.  
  
Looking around she wondered if she had made the right choice. All   
choices at this point were very uncertain. But, she felt Crystal   
Tokyo's pull the strongest in the one she had just made. She also had   
felt during her brief visit in linear time the pulls of evil that   
should not have yet been present in the flow of time. Well I guess   
that means that some of what was also caught by the discharge was not   
good. I will probably need to awaken Uranus and Neptune earlier this   
time. Pluto could no longer see the flow or time, feeling lost and   
annoyed by this mists of time that obscured the new timeline, she   
began to get frustrated, an emotion normally foreign to her.   
Releasing her frustration a bit by slamming the staff onto the   
"ground" she continued in her thoughts. I am going to need to return   
to linear time soon. Only when I am in it, can I feel the flow of   
time and its pulls. As long as I am here, I am powerless to carry out   
my duty to my queen. Her reign must come to be." With a frustration   
that is normally a foreign emotion to this strange woman, she   
returned to ensuring the stability of the time-stream.  
  
End Chapter 2  



	3. Visitors from Down the street

The Fragility of Time  
Chapter 3: "Visitors from Down the Street"  
Author: etj4Eagle  
Email: etj4Eagle@yahoo.com  
http://www.geocities.com/etj4eagle  
Lasted Edited: 8/31/00  
  
Disclaimer: A reminder I own none of the characters of this story,   
all rights are owned by others.   
If you distribute the story, do only   
so freely and inform me of where you post it.  
  
_______________________________________  
  
The first few moments after the disappearance of Sailor Pluto,   
everyone sat stunned. It was Luna who broke the silence. She got up   
walked over to Usagi, bowing deeply before speaking. "Forgive me for   
not recognizing you your highness. I should not have put you in all   
that danger, you were never trained to be a Sailor Senshi. My only   
excuse is that my memories of the past are very clouded."  
  
Normally Usagi would have been jumping for joy after learning that   
she no longer needed to be Sailor Moon. But, the child who had   
returned to the warmth of her arms had in the last hour caused Usagi   
to mature significantly. There was now another who needed her to be   
strong. And, if her daughter was going to be training to be a Sailor   
Senshi of the moon, then she would be one as well. "Luna get up off   
the ground!" she barked at the cat that was still bowed low in shame.   
"There is nothing for you to be sorry about, you were doing what you   
thought was best. The only thing that is now different is that we no   
longer have to look for the moon princess, and we know why I am such   
a lousy fighter. As much as I hate to admit it, I guess I will need   
extra training above what you give Mercury and Mars. Though, I   
probably could do that extra training along with ChibiMoon."  
  
Luna was taken back by her charge's reaffirmination of being Sailor   
Moon. She will make a good queen one day. Luna quietly thought to   
herself before addressing her princess again. "Princess, I am glad   
that you have decided to keep fighting as Sailor Moon. I will revise   
the training program for next time."  
  
Rei watched the exchange between Luna and Usagi with a warm feeling   
of delight in her heart. She has finally begun to recognize the   
inner strength that she has. I probably should not be so hard about   
her abilities, as it appears that both Ami-chan and I had extensive   
practice in being Sailor Senshi in the past. Wait a minute, the past?   
"Uh, Luna what were you saying about the past?"  
  
While Luna knew that these warriors were the reborn warriors of the   
past, she had forgotten that no one had informed them of that fact   
yet. And with Pluto's revelation now was the time to tell them the   
truth. "Unfortunately my memories are still clouded, but the reason   
why you are the Senshi that you are is that about a thousand years   
ago you were those very same warriors. And, Usagi was princess   
Serenity of the Silver Millennium. A great war fell the kingdom, the   
Senshi died protecting the kingdom and the princess and queen.   
Though, the queen was able to banish the evil and send your souls   
here to earth to be reborn, however at the cost of her own life.   
Unfortunately that evil has broken free, and is the very one that we   
are fighting."  
  
The three teenagers' faces became solemn, as they mused over what   
Luna had said. Usagi gripped the child in her arms a little tighter.   
"Don't worry Odango-Atama, we will defeat the evil for good this   
time. You can still count on us to protect you and your daughter."   
Announced Rei, breaking the silence. Ami nodded her head in   
agreement.  
  
Ami remaining the practical one realized that there was one issue   
that needed to be dealt with before they were too sidetracked. "What   
are we going to do about ChibiUsa-chan?" Her announcement caused   
every one to look at the child, and each immediately realized the   
problem.  
  
ChibiUsa got up from where she had been sitting in Usagi's lap and   
pulled out the remains of Luna-P. "This used to be Luna-P, it was   
destroyed during my trip back in time. It is what I use to alter   
peoples' memories when I travel back in time."   
  
Ami pulled out her computer and began scanning the device.   
"Unfortunately the damage to it is too extensive for me to fix. Most   
of the internals are fried, and I don't think that most of the   
technology that it is made out of even exists yet." Concluded Ami.  
  
"Well that is just dandy." Summed up an irate Rei. "I guess she will   
have to stay here at the shrine. My grandfather is the least likely   
to ask questions, and we are a place of sanctuary."  
  
Luna was about to agree with Rei's proposal, when Usagi spoke out   
"NO! She will stay with me." Before the others could object she   
continued, "She is my daughter. And, I don't care about the   
consequences, my mind is made up."  
  
While Rei outwardly muttered about Odango-Atama no baka, she   
internally felt a slight twinge of pride at Usagi's continued newly   
found backbone. Though, she hoped that this was not a one-time   
affair, and that Usagi would maintain this new determination.  
  
Luna seeing in Usagi's eyes that there was no way to change her mind   
gave in. "All right she will stay with you, but how are we going to   
explain this to your parents? This is slightly more than just getting   
a cat." Luna said referring to how she came to live with the Tsukino   
family only about a month ago.  
  
"Easy we tell them the truth." Stated Usagi. Not waiting for the open   
mouths to be recovered by their owners, she continued. "Now I need to   
hurry and get ChibiUsa-chan some clothes at the mall. Though first   
could I borrow your phone Rei-chan so that I could let my mom know to   
set an additional place at dinner tonight." With Rei's weak nod, she   
left the room with ChibiUsa in tow.  
  
Her sudden departure snapped the others out of the daze they were in.   
As both Rei and Luna began a long tyrant on how baka Usagi was, Ami   
interrupted them. "As unorthodox as it seems, I think Usagi-chan has   
the right idea. ChibiUsa-chan should remain with her mother, Usagi-  
chan, and without the ability to hypnotize the Tsukino family, they   
will need to be told the truth. Luna, be sure to be there when Usagi   
talks to her family. And, don't hesitate to call us, if you think it   
will help."  
  
With that, the three broke up. Ami headed off for home to do some   
more studying, while Luna headed to the roof of the Tsukino house to   
await the return of her charges and to attempt to reclaim more of her   
memories while she waited. Rei prepared to seek guidance from the   
Great Fire. All three of them had heads swimming with new facts and   
needed time to sort them out and come to terms with them. Usagi on   
the other hand had already fully accepted the new situation.  
  
*********  
The alley where ChibiUsa originally arrived  
  
Zoisite looked around the alley one final time. Just great there is   
nothing here. Oh, there is a massive energy signature residual about   
ten feet in the air. It looks like it probably was a portal of some   
sort, though the trajectory would not have been pleasant for its   
traveler. smirked Zoisite as he realized that the other end of the   
trajectory was a dumpster. I wonder what kind of portal would have   
needed so much energy? Unfortunately, there are no other energy   
signatures in the area. Guess I had better go report my findings to   
Beryl; she will probably not be pleased. and with that thought,   
Zoisite opened a portal of his own and stepped back to the Dark   
Kingdom base.   
  
Zoisite was right; Beryl was most definitely not pleased. But, at   
least now he was to return to his original mission though, with the   
added objective of finding what ever created that portal. Zoisite   
hoped that he would not come into contact with what ever had created   
that portal, the energy used was mind staggering. But, that was   
exactly why Beryl wanted to control the source of that energy, it   
would be sufficient to release their great leader.  
  
*********  
A hospital   
  
In another part of town in a hospital lay a red haired man. The most   
distinguishing mark on this person's head was the presence of an   
upturned black crescent moon. While he was an intimidating in person,   
his unconscious self did not inspire the same fear. His survival had   
surprised the many doctors of the hospital, when he had been brought   
in his lungs were filled with water from the lake he had been found   
beside. However, his body seemed to resist the notion of dieing, but   
so too it resisted the notion of waking up. He had been like this for   
a week now.  
  
While his conscience self was out cold, his subconscious was actively   
trying to discover meaning in the dream plane.   
  
Where am I, and where are the others? he thought to   
himself. Looking around the scene suddenly shifted to that of a   
crystal shaped ship spiraling out of control above the earth.   
As the view panned inside, he saw explosions rip the internals   
of the ship. He could not make out the exact words that the   
crew was saying, but the meaning was clear: the ship was   
doomed.  
  
As the scene shifted again, he saw part of the ship plow into a   
lake. A few moments later, a red haired figure drifted to the   
shore. A pair of runners noticed the figure and called for   
help. The scene shifted once again, but this time it did not   
resolve into a firm memory but into nothingness. As he watched   
a hooded figure with a glass ball became apparent in front of   
him. "Wiseman what is happening?" questioned the Rubeus  
  
"There has been a disruptions to the flow of time. The future   
no longer exists; even my continued existence is only   
temporary. The others are all gone." Replied the hooded figure.  
  
"Does this mean that Crystal Tokyo is destroyed?"  
  
"No, Crystal Tokyo may still come to be. You must now prevent   
it from ever coming into being. The queen is alive in this time   
period, kill her and her child to prevent the rise of Crystal   
Tokyo. The child will lead you to the mother."   
  
With his questions partially answered, he slowly became aware of   
surroundings. Not wishing to deal with the locals, he teleported   
himself clear of the building. First thing is to find a place to   
base myself from, and then to find the future queen of Crystal Tokyo   
and kill her.  
  
*********  
Elsewhere in Tokyo  
  
Walking happily beside her mother's past self, ChibiUsa had for the   
time forgotten her worries. Like any child, and especially a Usagi,   
she could not remain in a saddened mood for long when a distraction   
was provided. The distraction happened to be her recent trip to the   
mall. Now the two of them headed for home with a couple of outfits   
for ChibiUsa to wear. Surprisingly to ChibiUsa, Usagi had no qualms   
about spending all her allowance money on the child. I would have   
thought Usagi would have at least muttered under her breath about   
giving up her arcade money.   
  
As the two began to approach the Tsukino household, ChibiUsa's pace   
slowed, her cheerful mood evaporated, and she began walking closer to   
Usagi. Usagi noticed the change in the child. She must be nervous   
about meeting my parents. Since she had visited once before, she must   
know how rabid my father can be at times. Stopping and turning the   
child to face her while kneeling down, Usagi gave the child some   
encouragement. "Don't worry about my parents. No matter what, you   
will be staying with me. Remember I am Sailor Moon and I will defend   
you." Usagi finished by swiping a V-sign across her face.  
  
This caused pink-haired girl to giggle. "You look just like Minako-  
chan."  
  
"Who?" questioned Usagi. But, ChibiUsa had already begun walking and   
did not here Usagi's question. Usagi quickly caught up with her   
daughter and the two of them approached the entrance to the house.   
Stopping for a moment Usagi decided to give ChibiUsa one suggestion.   
"You should probably avoid addressing my family or calling me momma   
until after I have explained your relation first."  
  
ChibiUsa nodded her ascent. Luna decided at that time to join the two   
and after landing on the ground bounced up onto Usagi's shoulder.   
Stealing a deep breath Usagi opened the door to her house and stepped   
in. And so it begins thought Luna as she rode into the house.  
  
Shingo was the first to see the twosome enter the house. Oh great   
Odango-Atama has found a pint sized clone of herself. Thought Shingo   
before he decided to leave his sister and her guest be and instead go   
to his room till dinner.  
  
"Usagi you're home, I was starting to get a little worried. Oh, this   
must be the guest you told me about over the phone. She looks a lot   
like you, even has the same hair style." Said Ikuko. Ikuko moved to   
welcome the child into the home. She looks a little scared.  
  
"Mom is dad around? I have some things to explain, and I would like   
to only explain them once."  
  
"Yes he is in the back, would you like me to call him?" replied   
Usagi's mother.  
  
"Yes, and could you ask Shingo to come down as well. He should here   
what I have to say as well." Ikuko moved to get the other two members   
of the family. She wanted to meet and reassure that child first, but   
her daughter seemed anxious to tell her something. And, if she did   
not know better, she would think that it had to do with that flamingo   
haired kid.  
  
With the family assembled in the living room, Usagi moved to stand up   
at one end of the room with ChibiUsa in front of her. "Mom, dad,   
Shingo I would like you to meet Tsukino Usagi-chan, but we can call   
her ChibiUsa-chan"  
  
"Ah, great not only does she look like a pint sized Usagi, she has   
the same name. At this rate she will probably be another Odango-Atama   
as well." Interrupted Shingo.  
  
Usagi clearing her voice succeeded in killing Shingo's interruption.   
"She is the daughter of Neo-Queen Serenity from the 30th centaury;   
she has come to the past to train with her mother to be a Sailor   
Senshi." Not letting her family get a chance to interrupt her with   
questions Usagi continued. "The reason why she has the same name as   
me and looks a lot like me, is that I am or actually will be her   
mother."  
  
"Honey, how can you be a queen in the 30th centaury?" Questioned a   
confused mother.  
  
"There used to be a great kingdom of all the other planets of the   
solar system centered on the moon, called the Silver Millennium. The   
Sailor Senshi guarded this kingdom and the heir to that kingdom was a   
princess named Serenity. That kingdom fell a."   
  
"What are you talking about Usagi?" demanded her father with a raised   
voice. It was obvious that he thought his girl was talking nonsense   
and as was his want, he was not taking it calmly.   
  
Luna decided that this was when she needed to make her contribution.   
"Usagi-chan speaks the truth. She is the reborn princess of the Moon   
Kingdom, however she has not reclaimed any of her past memories." At   
the startled stares from the other members of the family, "Yes it is   
true I can speak. Just as Usagi is not really a human, I am not an   
earth cat. I may look like one, but like the rest of those of the   
Silver Millennium, I am magical. The crest of the moon on my forehead   
is partially responsible for my powers and is the symbol of the   
kingdom that I serve. Usagi will have one on her forehead as well   
when the magic that is hiding her true identity is broken.  
  
Seeing that her family was still having trouble believing what Luna   
was saying, Usagi decide that a demonstration was needed. Looking at   
ChibiUsa, while grasping her locket she saw the child nod and knew   
that the same thoughts were passing her daughter's mind. And with   
that, the two of them stood and called out "Moon Prism Power Make-  
Up."  
  
The attention of the others in the room was suddenly riveted on the   
two girls who were suddenly covered with energy and ribbons that   
began to solidify into their uniforms. And, then there stood in front   
of the family the pretty suited soldier of love and justice and a   
pink pint sized copy of her.  
  
"Sa.Saiilor Moon?" Shingo timidly questioned.  
  
"Yup, your klutzy sister is the pretty suited defender of love and   
justice. How do you think I knew your name that time that I saved   
you, and why I asked you to take good care of Luna afterwards?"   
Shingo attempted to respond to his sister, but could only stutter,   
having a hard time accepting the truth that was now before him.  
  
"So that is why you have been sneaking out late at night" stated   
Ikuko making the connection.  
  
"Yes that is why I have snuck out of the house at times, and why I am   
sometimes late in getting home and have real lame excuses.  
  
"What if you were to get hurt?" questioned a worried father, who was   
not sure if he liked what he had just heard. He may be proud of his   
daughter, but fighting was just too dangerous for his little girl.  
  
"Don't worry dad, Luna has already found two of my guardian Senshi,   
Mercury and Mars. Unlike me, they were trained as warriors back   
during the Silver Millennium and instinctively remember most of their   
training. Additionally as Luna stated I am not truly human. I believe   
Mercury, by that way that's Ami-chan, said that I heal faster than a   
normal human and have a higher endurance. And further, when I am in   
my Senshi form the magic heals me even faster and protects me from   
most wounds. Anyways Mercury makes a good medic for those injuries   
that are more than just scrapes and bruises.  
  
"Sailor Mars is Rei-chan. I am still the same klutzy daughter that   
you knew before. The only thing that is different is that I have a   
really unique after school job. I still love all of you the same. And   
to why I did not tell you before, it was to protect you. I could take   
the risk that somehow my identity would get out. Which means Shingo-  
kun that you cannot reveal any of this to anyone outside of the   
family. Doing so could potentially put you in great danger. I do not   
want my family to suffer because of who I am."  
  
Luna decided to expand on the last bit that Usagi had said. "The   
enemies that we face are the same ones that attacked and destroyed   
the Moon Kingdom a thousand years ago. They were banished by Queen   
Serenity when she used the Ginzuishou. However, her use of the   
crystal at full power required the loss of her own life. But, she was   
able to, before she died, send the souls of her daughter, her love,   
and her royal court ahead in time to be reborn on earth. I was placed   
in a cold sleep capsule to await their rebirth. With the resurfacing   
of the Dark Kingdom, I began the process of tracking down the Sailor   
Senshi and awakening them. Unfortunately, I do not remember much   
else, as my memory was turned to Swiss cheese by the cold sleep.  
  
"If the Dark Kingdom was to learn that you were the family of Sailor   
Moon, you would become their perfect hostages. Further, if Queen   
Beryl were to learn that your daughter was really princess Serenity   
she would slowly kill you to bring pain to the Moon Princess. I do   
not remember the cause of Beryl's hatred towards Serenity, only that   
it is very deep and is what partially powered her lust to destroy the   
Moon Kingdom. The other was the mistaken belief that the Ginzuishou   
was the reason that those of the Silver Millennium having indefinite   
lifespans."  
  
The grumbling of the two Usagi tummies reminded the group that it was   
getting past time for dinner. Ikuko suggested that they take a break   
for dinner, at which the two girls immediately jumped. Within a blink   
of an eye, the two were seated at the table, back in their civilian   
forms, ready to pile food on their plates. Both Ikuko and Kenji   
thought to themselves how similar ChibiUsa was to Usagi and that   
while they had trouble believing it, it did not seem unreasonable   
that they were mother and daughter.  
  
The similarity was even more obvious during the meal itself. Both   
quickly polished off large amounts of food. With dinner winding down,   
Usagi decided to bring up why ChibiUsa was here in the past. "Mom,   
dad, as I mentioned earlier ChibiUsa came from the future to train to   
be a Sailor Senshi. However, during her trip back in time, something   
went wrong. She was supposed to have arrived here a little over a   
year in my future. Additionally Sailor Pluto, the guardian of time,   
said that the future has become fluid and as a result, ChibiUsa will   
have to remain here in the past until the future is firm again.   
  
Ikuko seeing the sadness that came over the child's eyes when Usagi   
mentioned the future becoming fluid began to put two and two   
together. She has essentially lost her parents. Whatever happened   
during her trip, has caused the future, her past, to disappear. The   
only thing resembling consistency at all to that child now is my   
daughter, her mother's past self. "Usagi there is no problem with   
ChibiUsa staying here for as long as she likes. Though with her being   
YOUR daughter, you will need to be responsible for her. For now, at   
least, she can sleep in your room."  
  
"Thanks Ikuko-mama" called out ChibiUsa while she ran to give her   
grandmother a hug around the waist. "For others, I am supposed to   
pose as a distant cousin of Usagi. Ami-chan should be able to use her   
Mercurian computer to produce the necessary papers."  
*********  
Later that Night in front of the Crown Arcade  
  
Well its time for that sly cat to be caught in the act. It figures   
that he would pull a stunt like that. Luna mused to herself while   
remembering what ChibiUsa had told her as she told the two Usagis   
that she was off to check in with central control.   
  
"Say hi to Artemis for me." Requested ChibiUsa.  
  
"Artemis is in the area? I was just going to check in with   
central control." questioned Luna  
  
ChibiUsa laughingly replied that "Artemis is central control."   
What followed was a string of superlatives that caused Usagi to   
cover ChibiUsa's ears, while shooing the cat out of the house.   
  
  
Oh, that cat is going to get it when I see him next. Trying to pass   
himself off as being more than he really is. At least that explains   
some of those errands he sent me on. Luna jumped on top of the   
Sailor-V video game and began entering her code. "Earth Tuna tastes   
good while the moon rabbit makes moshi."  
  
"Pass code accepted. What do you have to report Luna." A metallic   
voice replied.  
  
"Can it Artemis. I know your gig, so you can drop the acting." She   
knew that ChibiUsa was right when she heard the unmistakable sounds   
of Artemis choking on something that he was eating (probably tuna).   
"I have also found the princess and another Senshi."  
  
The screen on the computer changed to show a video image of a white   
cat with a can of tuna by his feet. The expression on his face was   
one of a child caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "Err., Luna I   
can explain."  
  
End Chapter 3  



	4. The Rules of the Game

The Fragility of Time  
Chapter 4: "The Rules of the Game"  
Author: etj4Eagle  
Email: etj4Eagle@yahoo.com  
http://www.geocities.com/etj4eagle  
Lasted Edited: 8/31/00  
  
Disclaimer: A reminder I own none of the characters of this story,   
all rights are owned by others.   
If you distribute the story, do only   
so freely and inform me of where you post it.  
  
_______________________________________  
  
It was late that night that Luna returned to the Tsukino household.   
While she did chide Artemis for his deception, she was glad to have   
that fur ball back. It was good to know that there was someone else   
who was going through the same things that she was with her charge.   
Though, he did have a nice expression on his face when he learned   
that the warrior whom they had been sending out to battle was none   
other than the princess that they were supposed to find and protect.   
She did not bother telling him then about ChibiUsa, he would have not   
believed it anyways. Besides, it would be fun to watch his reaction   
to finding out that ChibiUsa is the daughter of the princess   
tomorrow.  
  
As Luna entered the household, she noticed a light still on in the   
living room. Heading over to investigate she found Ikuko sitting on   
one of the chairs, obviously trying to come to terms with all that   
she had learned that night. Hopping up onto her lap, Luna cuddled up   
to her and began to purr.  
  
The effect was quick in coming. Ikuko's mind started to clear, no   
longer quite besieged by the number of questions that it had been   
only moments before. Looking down at the cat she thought I always   
wondered why you were such a perceptive cat. It is going to be   
strange, at least for a while, talking to a cat. "Luna can you tell   
me about my daughter as Sailor Moon?"  
  
Luna looked up at the blue haired mother of her charge and began to   
recount her observations of Usagi. Her account seemed to help   
reassure the elder woman, letting her know that while her daughter   
was also a soldier, she was still the same girl at heart. Luna also   
continued on to tell her about her vague memories of what Usagi was   
like back as princess Serenity.   
  
Later as Ikuko headed up to bed, her worries had been put to rest.   
She still had some concerns and twinges of doubt concerning when   
Usagi recovered her memories. But for the most part, she was   
reassured. And while she should feel a little guilty for this glad   
feeling, she was glad that Luna had as much trouble as herself in   
getting Usagi to do anything other than eating or sleeping.   
  
Checking in on her daughter and granddaughter, she saw the two of   
them asleep in Usagi's bed. Usagi had her arm protectively wrapped   
around the smaller child who was snuggled up against the elder one.   
  
*********  
  
Late the next day saw two still sleepy eyed Usagis finally return to   
the land of the living. As the two sat down to breakfast, Luna   
sighed. It looks like ChibiUsa has inherited all of Usagi's bad   
habits. I was hoping with her being just a child that she would be up   
early in the morning.  
  
Ikuko saw Luna's sigh. "Usagi was a late sleeper even as a young   
child. I guess she needs all that sleep for the bottomless energy   
that she has during the day."  
  
As Ikuko was finishing up her statement, there came a knock at the   
door.  
  
*********  
Earlier on the way to the Tsukino household  
  
"Artemis there better be a good reason why you got me up early on a   
Sunday morning. Otherwise someone is sleeping outside tonight and is   
not getting any tuna for a long while." Declared a blond, who was not   
in the best of moods.  
  
"Minako-chan you remember how I said there were others?" At her nod,   
the white cat continued "Well we will be meeting them today.   
Additionally they have located the Moon Princess, princess Serenity.   
That is who we are going to see now."  
  
"A princess, I am going to get to meet a real princess?" Bubbled   
Minako excitedly. Seeing where this was about to go, Artemis decided   
to burst her bubble before she got to wrapped up in her star chasing.  
  
"She currently does not remember her life as a princess. We are going   
to meet her so that you can start to protect her, remember that is   
the primary reason why you are a Senshi. Do to some circumstances   
that Luna refused to explain last night, her family knows the truth."  
  
A few minutes later, the two arrived in front of the Tsukino   
household and Minako pressed the buzzer. As the door opened, Minako   
realized that she did not know what to say. She could not really say   
I am here to see princess Serenity, what if this was the wrong house.   
Plus that seemed the wrong thing to say anyways.   
  
As it turned out, she did not have to worry as a black cat   
accompanied the woman who opened the door with a crescent moon on its   
forehead. "Artemis, I see you were able to find your way here,   
without too much trouble." Turning to look at the blond whose   
shoulder Artemis was laying on Luna continued. "And, you must be   
Sailor Venus. Come on in Usagi-chan will want to meet the two of   
you."  
  
Leading the two in, followed by Ikuko, Luna lead them to the living   
room. While Ikuko sat them down and chatted a bit with the two   
newcomers, Luna went to retrieve the two girls. "Usagi, ChibiUsa this   
is Artemis and this is Minako-chan. Minako-chan is Sailor Venus"  
  
Realizing that Luna was not describing all of who she was, Minako   
decided to finish her introduction. "I am also known as code-name   
Sailor-V" While swiping her trademark V-sign in front of her face.  
  
Ikuko realized what was about to happen and chuckled slightly as Luna   
for the next few minutes lost full control of the situation. "V-chan!   
You're V-chan!" screamed Usagi as she raced forward to grab hold of   
the now slightly bewildered other blond. The rest of what Usagi said   
was lost to most, as her mouth moved at a mile a minute with no   
pauses for breath.   
  
"Hey Odango-Atama why don't you stop drooling over Minako-chan."   
Chastised the pink haired child. This was enough to temporarily   
divert Usagi's attention away from Minako. Minako took that   
opportunity to move back a bit. Since her identity as Sailor-V was a   
secret and Artemis never let her stay around after stopping a crime,   
she had never experienced the crazed fan syndrome. For just a   
fraction of a moment, it caused her to reconsider her desire to be an   
idol, but only for a fraction of a second.   
  
Loudly clearing her throat, Luna once again regained control of the   
floor. "As you may have noticed Usagi is a major fan of Sailor-V.   
Even though she is now Sailor Moon, she still sees Sailor-V as her   
hero. Maybe you will be able to help her with her training Minako-  
chan. Now to continue from where I was interrupted." The last part   
she stated while looking at Usagi, who at least had the good grace to   
look slightly guilty.  
  
"This is Tsukino Usagi, Sailor Moon, and the Moon Princess, Princess   
Serenity. This small child next to her is from the future; she is   
also named Tsukino Usagi, though we call her ChibiUsa. She is the new   
Senshi I told you about last night Artemis. Since, she is the future   
daughter of Usagi she is Sailor ChibiMoon and is back here in the   
past to train as a Senshi."  
  
"NANI?!?" Came the expected response from the two newcomers. They had   
not really made note of Luna's mentioning of ChibiUsa being from the   
future. Luna gave a little sigh and prepared to explain to them the   
circumstances surrounding ChibiUsa.  
  
*********  
The lake  
  
With the sun starting to reach high in the sky, a redheaded man   
appeared near the large body of water in the park. This feels like   
the area where at least part of my ship came down. Hopefully there   
will be something useful left in the wreckage. and, with that he   
vanished, having only been present by the lake for a few minutes.   
  
About an hour later, the redheaded man reappeared, having gathered   
what he could from the remains of his ship. Well most of the ship is   
toast, which is what I had expected from my fragmented memories of   
its last moments. However, a dozen of the droid crystals survived the   
crash. At least, I will have droids when it is time to make my move   
against the future Neo-Queen Serenity.  
  
Moving away from the edge of the lake he began to walk around the   
park like any normal person lost in their thoughts. Rubeus was   
considering his new mission objectives. His original one of obtaining   
the Ginzuishou and the rabbit before returning to the future was now   
long gone. Now he was to make the moves to take over Crystal Tokyo by   
destroying its ruler before she could come into her own. This was   
going to be harder, as he remembered from his history books she was   
protected by strong glamour magic until she came of age. Though with   
the rabbit here, he might be able to use her to find Serenity. But he   
was going to need to exist in society, he no longer had his   
spaceship.  
  
While the redhead had been walking, he initially had been oblivious   
to the stares that he was receiving. But, now when he looked up,   
taking a pause in his ponderings, he noticed the looks he was   
getting. I am going to need to blend in. It will do me no good to   
draw attention to myself. First thing is to find something to cover   
the mark of the Dark Moon Family.  
  
As he was heading out of the park, he passed an aqua haired young   
lady, who was probably in her late teens. Not knowing why, the young   
lady suddenly shivered and felt as if someone has just walked in her   
grave. Looking up she saw a redheaded man walking away, and realized   
that he was the cause of her sudden discomfort. However, as quick as   
the sudden shiver came it was gone, leaving her to ponder it's   
meaning and its cause. She just hoped that the evil feeling that it   
had left would be fully gone by her recital tonight. It would not do   
any good to have her playing influenced by that dark energy.  
  
*********  
The park later that day  
  
Usagi watching the pint-sized version of herself swinging on the   
swings sighed. Looking around again she was happy to see that there   
was no sign of the other Senshi. Luna had even finally given up   
trying to keep a vigil and was now basking in the sun on the grass.   
It had been a real fight earlier today to keep Minako and then later   
the other Senshi from accompanying her to the park. Now that they   
knew that she was their princess, they did not want let her out of   
their site. I guess I should feel happy for their concern, but I   
will NOT be watched 24 hrs a day! It had taken a royal order and the   
promise of taking additional training from Sailor Venus to convince   
them to not follow her. Normally she hated training, but she now had   
a child to protect, and anyways it was going to be V-chan giving the   
lessons!  
  
ChibiUsa originally had no thought in the world as she swung on the   
swings. But now she was thinking about Usagi, after seeing her   
involved in deep thought. She was now currently musing over the   
differences between this Usagi and the one that she had remembered   
from her previous trip into the past. This one was much less sure of   
herself, and from the way that Ami-chan, Rei-chan, and Luna-chan were   
talking earlier today she was not a good warrior yet. She wanted to   
be able to tease her mother's younger self, but something told her   
that this was not yet the time. Maybe later after her mother gained   
some confidence in her abilities.   
  
Elsewhere in the park, a man dressed in a gray uniform came across   
what he was looking for. In front of him lay a young lady who   
appeared to currently be on a date with a young man with blond hair.   
To those who knew the young lady's date, they might not have   
recognized him at first, as he was not wearing his typical apron. The   
newcomer stood in front of them waiting for the young lady's   
attention. "Can I help you sir?" She questioned with a slight quiver   
in her voice when she noticed him.  
  
"Yes, you can. You can return to serve our great leader." And with   
that, he pulled out a crystal, which began to emit light. Moments   
later energy started to glow from within the lady's chest as another   
crystal began to surface. Her screams echoed throughout the park. Her   
Love attempted to defend her, but was easily knocked into a tree by   
the attacker.  
  
Both ChibiUsa and Usagi's heads immediately popped up with the sound   
and they bolted for its direction. Peaking from around a bush, they   
recognized the man as being a Dark Kingdom general. Luna quickly   
summed up the situation "Henshin, yo!"  
  
After giving a quick call to the other Senshi the two girls called   
upon the power of the moon. "Hold it right there Dark Kingdom sleaze.   
How dare you interrupt the love of two young lovers. I am the pretty   
suited soldier of love and justice, Sailor Moon."  
  
Her young companion added "And Sailor ChibiMoon."  
  
"And in the name of the Moon." Moon continued.  
  
"And the future Moon."   
  
"We will punish you."   
  
Zoisite turned to observe the interlopers. Just great another   
Senshi she thought as she turned around. What? This one is just a   
child! They must be getting desperate, though what did she mean by   
future moon? "You are too late Sailor failures, as this crystal is   
mine." With that, the crystal finally emerged from the victim's body   
and was caught by Zoisite.   
  
Black energy began to emerge from the victim and caress her, in much   
the same way that Usagi's energy caressed her as she became Sailor   
Moon. There was good reason for this similarity as the source of this   
black energy was the soul of the victim. Unlike the soul of her   
lover, hers was an ancient one; one that had last seen life about a   
thousand years ago. The crystal that had just been removed had   
trapped the true nature of her soul in dormancy. But with the crystal   
removed, the soul could finally return to its former glory as one of   
the Dark Kingdom's Shadow Warriors. However, the presence of a human   
body prevented it from actually assuming its true shadow form,   
instead it had to settle for altering the human's body, much the same   
way a youma spirit would.   
  
However, none of the other's except for the victim's love was paying   
attention to the transition at this time. Instead, they were focused   
on the crystal that Zoisite now clutched. ChibiMoon vaguely   
recognized the crystal and wondered from where, when her broach began   
to glow. In response, the crystal that Zoisite now clutched also   
glowed. And, then the crystal vanished from Zoisite's hands only to   
appear in front of ChibiMoon. Grasping it, she quickly placed it in   
her dimensional pocket, before getting ready for the imminent attack   
from Zoisite.  
  
"Why you little brat, you are going to pay for the taking of that   
crystal. At that moment, the Shadow Warrior's transformation was   
complete. "Shadow Warrior destroy the Sailor Senshi, in particular   
that small one with the pink hair."  
  
"Sailor Moon moved in front of ChibiMoon, determined to protect her   
child. She braced herself for the energy that had just been hurled   
her direction. Normally she would have dodged, but doing so now would   
mean that it would hit ChibiMoon instead. Then like clockwork a   
single rose connected with the attack and dissipated it. "Tuxedo-  
kamen" came the happy call from the two moons.   
  
"Be strong Sailor Moon you can defeat this evil." While he had   
planned on saying more it was lost in his throat as he noticed for   
the first time the other Senshi that was with Sailor Moon. Instead,   
he was left pondering why there was suddenly now a Sailor Senshi who   
was obviously only a child.  
  
The distraction had been enough for Sailor Moon and ChibiMoon to jump   
to another part of the park. How am I going to defeat both that   
youma and that Dark Kingdom general at the same time. Also that youma   
is Motoki's fianc‚e, I can't kill her. ChibiMoon attempted to use   
her Pink Sugar Heart Attack on Zoisite. However, unlike the limited   
minded monsters, Zoisite was not amused nor was she severely   
distracted by the attack. Instead, ChibiMoon found herself cowering   
behind a rock as a non-stop barrage of attacks flew by.  
  
"Hold it right there! How dare you disturb the peace of this park. In   
the name of Mars, Mercury and Venus we will punish you!" The Calvary   
had arrived.  
  
Zoisite seeing another new scout in the group that had just arrived   
decided that a strategic withdrawal was the best option open to him   
now. Beryl is not going to like this. Not only did I fail to get   
that crystal, but also there are now two additional Senshi. He   
teleported out just as a golden beam of energy blasted through the   
space he had been standing in moments before.   
  
The surrounded Shadow warrior now had the undivided attention from   
all the scouts. While it had with the presence of Zoisite been able   
to keep Sailor Moon and Tuxedo-Kamen fairly well pinned down, it   
flanks were now exposed to attack. And, the attacks came, a crescent   
beam blast from Venus and a fireball from Mars. Mercury, with her   
only attack being the fog bank, had decided to check on ChibiMoon.   
The girl was uninjured, though the same could not be said for the   
landscape around her. It is going to take major landscaping to   
repair this scar. she thought to herself.  
  
"Sailor Moon finish it off." Shouted Mars.  
  
"I can't, that youma is Motoki's fianc‚e." Replied Moon.  
  
Mars was about to tell her that they had no choice when Luna provided   
a second option. "Sailor Moon, use the Crystal Moon Wand, to heal   
her." With that, she performed a back flip, which deposited a wand on   
the ground. Grabbing it, she brought it to Sailor Moon.   
  
Grasping the wand, understanding immediately flashed through the   
young warriors eyes as she straightened up. Bring the wand up she   
began to carve out a circle. "Moon Healing Escalation" following the   
end of incantation golden energy flew out of the wand towards the   
Shadow Warrior. The energy penetrated the warrior's body seeking the   
dark soul. When it found the soul, the soul was blasted into non-  
existence, leaving behind the only the human soul. Without the   
previously dormant soul controlling the body, the magical energy   
released the body and a young lady once again stood in front of the   
Sailor Senshi. Her energy spent, she collapsed to the ground.   
Thankfully for her, she would not remember anything of the battle,   
and only have vague memories of Zoisite. All that she would remember   
clearly would be waking up in Motoki's arms.   
  
*********  
  
As was normal bystanders had immediately fled when the fighting   
began. While the public was interested in learning more about these   
mysterious Sailor Senshi, no one was stupid enough to actually stay   
and watch a battle. One man however did stay to watch, but he was no   
normal human. Rubeus had returned to the park finding that his   
thinking worked best there.  
  
Floating up in the sky, he got a good view of the battle. He also did   
not like what he saw, but for different reasons. The first was the   
presence of the mini-Sailor Moon. I remember hearing stories about a   
legendary warrior called Sailor Moon, but never one about a Senshi   
who was a miniature version of her. That one does look familiar, I   
just can't place why.   
  
However, what troubled him the most was the presence of the Dark   
Kingdom general. This is not good, I was supposed to arrive after   
the Sailor Senshi destroyed the Dark Kingdom. Any moves against them   
now would only allow Metalia to be freed from her banishment. I want   
to rule over a planet of living subjects, not be consumed in that   
creature's desire for power. I better lay low till the Senshi destroy   
that creature.  
  
As Rubeus returned to the ground another disturbing thought crossed   
his mind. What if this damage to the timeline causes the Senshi to   
loose that battle?" And with that, he realized as disgusting as it   
sounded that he may need to aid the Senshi in their battles against   
the Dark Kingdom. Well I guess I will be playing a role similar to   
cape boy, observing the battle and discreetly adding my help. The   
only question remaining was how was he going to be able to keep tabs   
on the Senshi, it was not like they were going to call him when they   
needed him.  
  
End Chapter 4  
  
End Notes:   
That little bit with Rubeus surprised even me. I was originally   
looking for a reason to force him to lay low for a while. But,   
that last paragraph just flowed out onto paper and I like the   
potential possibility that it has. Don't worry revelation time   
will slow down for a while. There are still four other   
Nijizuishou holders to deal with, plus an additional Senshi to   
find.  



	5. The Geometry of Shadows

The Fragility of Time  
Chapter 5: "The Geometry of Shadows"  
Author: etj4Eagle  
Email: etj4Eagle@yahoo.com  
http://www.geocities.com/etj4eagle  
Lasted Edited: 9/9/00  
  
Disclaimer: A reminder I own none of the characters of this story,   
all rights are owned by others.   
If you distribute the story, do only   
so freely and inform me of where you post it.  
  
_______________________________________  
  
Following ChibiUsa's recount of the incident with the Nijizuishou   
Crystal, the Senshi were lost in thought. "ChibiUsa-chan may I see   
your transformation broach for a moment, I would like to scan it."   
Asked Ami. Getting the broach from ChibiUsa, Ami scanned it and   
compared the results to a previous one that she had of Usagi's   
broach. "I think that I may have a partial reason for why that   
crystal teleported to ChibiUsa during the battle. The crystal appears   
to be resonating with a crystal inside ChibiUsa's broach. It was hard   
to detect the crystal in her broach, it is almost as if it is just a   
shadow of one."  
  
A shadow of another crystal? Luna pondered Ami's statements. Wait   
a moment, Neo-Queen Serenity would have the Ginzuishou, could that   
locket contain an projection of the crystal allowing ChibiUsa access   
to the crystal's powers? "That's it!" declared Luna. After getting   
some puzzled look from the other Senshi she continued. "That crystal   
is a fragment of the Ginzuishou. When Queen Serenity defeated the   
Shadow Warriors she sealed them into the Ginzuishou. The crystal must   
have shattered into seven fragments when she sent it to earth. Each   
fragment being born much the way your Sailor Crystals were. Only that   
in this case a new soul also accompanied the crystal fragment in the   
rebirth."  
  
"Huh?" came the response from all but Ami. For Ami her response was   
"Sailor Crystal? What is that?"  
  
"I don't remember. That term just came up in my head, don't remember   
anything beyond it. How about you Artemis."  
  
"No, I don't remember anything either, only that it seems that it   
should be a very basic concept. Hopefully our memories will start   
sorting themselves out soon. Anyways that is not important. What is,   
is that that crystal is a fragment of the Ginzuishou."  
  
"And ChibiUsa's broach contains a projection of the Ginzuishou of the   
future." Continued Luna. "While it does not have much power, it did   
recognize that fragment and returned it to one of its rightful   
owners. I have a feeling that the next time we see that Dark Kingdom   
general, he will attempt to eliminate ChibiMoon, so that the she   
can't swipe another crystal. Now since we are all here, why don't we   
do some training."  
  
*********  
Elsewhere in the city  
  
Rubeus was currently wandering around the seedier parts of the city.   
His stay here in the past was now indefinite, so he was going to need   
a source of income. While he could go out and rob banks, that was not   
a good way to keep a low profile. Unfortunately being a traveler from   
the future prevented him from having the proper papers to get   
reputable work. Consequently, he was wandering around this particular   
portion of town. Most people kept out, afraid of what went on, but   
those things did not scare him.  
  
He had taken the liberty earlier to acquire some basic means of   
disguising himself from the rabbit. While the threat of running into   
her was low, he knew that the way his luck was currently going he   
would. So, he now wore a cloak that obscured his identity, but   
afforded him plenty of mobility. And in case someone got a close look   
at his face, he now wore a headband covering the mark of his family,   
a family that now longer existed.  
  
"Hey buddy I suggest that you reverse your direction and leave this   
area if you know what is good for you." Challenged a voice from his   
side.  
  
Turning and observing the voice, he removed the hood before smiling.   
"And why should I leave, you are nowhere near the strength of a   
Senshi." Pulling a large knife that he had also acquired; Rubeus   
prepared for the inevitable surprise attack from his flanks. When it   
did come, he was most disappointed, but that is what you get when you   
fight ordinary humans. Keeping true Rubeus refrained from using   
obvious shows of his power. While he did not hold any regard for the   
life of these humans, he did refrain from killing them.   
  
Instead, he just smiled and turned to the gentleman who had first   
addressed him. "I think your friends here are not much use in   
protecting your territory. They were not a challenge at all, I am   
surprised that you and the rest of your friends have not already been   
removed."  
  
The large grin on Rubeus's face was unnerving to the man. Instead the   
accoster fled down back into the alleys. The battle was not, however,   
unwatched. From the shadows, a recruiter of talent watched this   
newcomer with anticipation. He would be a perfect addition to the   
organization. I think I will follow him some more. Rubeus was quite   
aware of the admirer he had picked up during the battle, and knew   
that his plan was starting to come together. He only hoped that his   
admirer would not take too long before letting himself be known, he   
needed to develop his intelligence network quickly. Something told   
him that things were going to move faster than the version of history   
that he had studied before coming to the past.  
  
*********  
The Dark Kingdom Base  
  
"Zoisite, why have you failed to obtain that crystal!" Demanded a   
very pissed off queen.  
  
Bowing even lower and with a very humble voice, Zoisite replied "Your   
majesty, I am at fault for not being prepared for the sudden new   
strength of our enemy. I was not prepared for the new Senshi that   
joined in today's battle."  
  
"More Senshi?!?" bellowed an even more irate queen.  
  
"Yes my lord, two more Senshi joined the battle one calling herself   
Sailor Venus, the other Sailor ChibiMoon. Sailor Venus appears to be   
as much a threat as Mars." Though, I was not about to risk my hide   
to find out for sure. "But, Sailor ChibiMoon does not appear to be a   
threat, for she is but a child, a pint sized version of that   
annoyance Sailor Moon."  
  
"You were chased off by a child?"  
  
"My queen if you would let me explain. ChibiMoon by herself is not a   
threat, but she was somehow able to call the Nijizuishou Crystal to   
herself. Her broach seems to resonate in energy with the Nijizuishou   
Crystal. I am afraid that any other attempts to acquire the   
Nijizuishou Crystals will meet with similar fates, if that brat is   
around." Concluded Zoisite.  
  
"My queen, I have to agree with Zoisite's interpretation. We will   
need to change our plans based on the presence of that child." Came   
the words from another male voice. The owner of the voice had   
previously been unnoticed in the room, but now his presence was   
noted.  
  
"Kunzite, since you seem to agree with Zoisite's interpretation I am   
placing the two of you in charge of collecting the Nijizuishou   
Crystals. If I do not see those crystals soon, both of you will face   
the same fate as Jadeite. You are dismissed." The threat caused both   
Kunzite and Zoisite to shiver.  
  
After they left the chambers Zoisite asked "Why did you do that for   
me back there?"  
  
"There was nothing you could have done differently. And I believe it   
will take two to obtain those crystals, without letting the Sailor   
Senshi get anymore. If I had not spoken, Beryl in her mood would most   
likely have killed you. And, without the help of another, I too would   
soon have met with Beryl's temper. Now come, we must plan our next   
attack.  
  
*********  
Back in the underside of Tokyo  
  
"Wanderer I think that we may be of beneficial use to each other. I   
have seen how you handle yourself in a fight, and I like what I see.   
You have lots of talent, and I know of one who would pay well for   
your services."  
  
Rubeus turned to address his tail for the past six hours. "Is that   
so? What do you have in mind and why should I aid you?"  
  
Right to the point. I should not have expected less after seeing   
this fellow in action. "Your fighting skills are excellent, and my   
boss has need for soldiers. But, I get the feeling that you have far   
more to offer, and I am sure that you could find a position in our   
organization to your liking. You have the stance and eyes of a leader   
of men, and those are always in need. As to why you should consider   
my employer. Well it appears that you are not of this locality, and   
the way you have been wondering this part of town I assume that you   
are in need of the kind of employment that I can provide.   
Additionally you are probably in need of an identity, of which would   
be no problem for us."  
  
"You are right on your assumptions. I am willing to listen to your   
employers offer. My name is Rubeus." The last part he stated while   
removing his hood. What the tail saw in the eyes of the man that now   
stood in front of him confirmed all his assumptions about the man's   
abilities, but also sent a chill down his spine I do not want to be   
on the opposite side of that man.  
  
*********  
Two days later:  
  
The meeting with the employer had gone very well. Rubeus relayed a   
fairly accurate account of his past, though with massive holes. But,   
the others seemed to buy that he was a general from a foreign country   
whose organization had recently bought the dust. There were enough   
wars going around that this was a plausible story (they never did ask   
what country and whether he was a rebel or loyalist general, it was   
not important).  
  
Rubeus was assigned some men and the task of keeping an eye on   
certain transactions. He was to be the support should something go   
wrong. This was not a permanent assignment for Rubeus, but only a   
test of loyalty and ability. Later once he proved himself, he would   
be given more choice assignments.   
  
The current assignment had him with three assistants keeping an eye   
on a weapons transfer. Each of his assistants carried a concealed   
automatic rifle. He himself carried no gun, instead preferring the   
knife that he kept (plus if things got hairy he had his powers). He   
still wore the cape, it gave him an intimidating appearance. Others   
in the organization would go out of their ways to avoid him. But   
these three, had been with him since he started and while they might   
still fear him, they did not visibly show it. Additionally he had   
begun to give them some training, making them into far more lethal   
soldiers than before. They had great aptitude for learning; too bad   
they had no magical abilities.  
  
Something does not seem right. Scanning the scene once again he   
came across the problem, a car without it lights on was slowly   
creeping up on the scene. Must be one of those electric cars, to be   
so quite. Motioning to his comrades they moved to outflank the   
approaching threat. As he stealthy moved towards the car he noticed   
others attempting to stealthy move towards the transfer area. A quick   
look confirmed that they were police. Only five officers, plus two   
in that car. Well they should have brought more force.  
  
And with that, Rubeus moved out to take out the officer whom he was   
just about to pass. A quick motion and the officer silently fell to   
the ground, his throat cut. His three assistants already lined up for   
their shots each took out another officer. That left one officer   
standing and the two in the car. However, the sound of gunfire at the   
falling of the other three alerted the remaining three.   
  
"Freeze this is the police!" Came a shout from the car, where its two   
officers, actually make that four in SWAT gear had just poured out. A   
flick of Rubeus's wrist, sent a knife flying at the other officer and   
took him out of the battle. The group at the car still had not   
registered his presence. Instead, they were focused on his three   
assistants, who had given away their positions with a retaliation of   
gunfire.   
  
Normally a drug bust would not have involved the heavy firepower that   
the four remaining officers carried. But, ever since the strange   
happenings with the appearance of the Sailor Senshi, the Tokyo PD had   
quietly begun to create some heavily equipped units. This new unit   
had Rubeus's assistants far out classed, and it was obvious to Rubeus   
that his assistants would soon perish. He initially considered   
letting them die, but they had shown great promise and he did not   
want to waste that. So instead, he flung a couple of dark energy   
globes at the police car. The resulting explosion lit up the night.   
For all anyone knew, one of the bullets must have hit something   
explosive.   
  
*********  
The following day at the Tsukino household  
  
The Tsukino family was watching the television, when the report of   
the recent gang incident came on screen. As the TV camera panned   
across the scene, ChibiUsa suddenly tensed up. Instantly noticing the   
change, Usagi placed an arm around the child "ChibiUsa what's wrong?"   
asked a concerned Usagi.  
  
"That crater. It looks like one of Rubeus's. Like the ones that were   
left after he attacked you while you were protecting me from him."  
  
The statement of his daughter being at the receiving end of whatever   
caused one of those craters caused Kenji to wonder again, why he had   
agreed to let his daughter continue to be Sailor Moon. She was not   
supposed to every have been a Senshi. She should let the other Senshi   
do their job and protect her. But, he knew that his daughter would   
never stand for that. And that child was proof that she would   
survive, wasn't she?  
  
Usagi pulled the child into a hug and tried to reassure her. "Don't   
worry there is nothing to worry about. That crater was caused by a   
bullet from the gunfight setting off explosives in the car. Anyways I   
will always be here to protect her, muzume."   
  
While ChibiUsa was not convinced about the official report of how the   
car exploded, she let herself be comforted. "So Odango-Atama did you   
flatten Mamo-chan again?" ChibiUsa returned to one of her standard   
taunts this time in the past. Usagi still had not figured out   
ChibiUsa's use of the familiar with Mamoru-san, she figured that she   
must apparently become friends with that creep in the future. How she   
did not know, and apparently that child was getting her kicks out of   
seeing her badmouth Mamoru-san. At first Usagi did not care for the   
taunting, but she quickly realized that whenever ChibiUsa was   
taunting she was much more at ease with herself. And that it was only   
during long periods of no taunting in which sorrow would cross   
ChibiUsa's face.   
  
*********  
Elsewhere in Tokyo  
  
Shortly after Rubeus's craft re-entered the normal flow of time it   
broke up. The explosion for the most part turned the craft into   
shrapnel. However, a core portion of the ship had survived nearly   
intact, the command center. This fragment had landed in a lake in   
Tokyo, and carried Rubeus here to earth. His four companions were   
also in this portion, however, they did not survive the impact and   
subsequent sinking. Most of the rest of the ship burned up upon   
reentry into the atmosphere.  
  
However, the cargo of those pieces did not necessarily face   
destruction during their reentry. Droid crystals are designed to face   
severe stresses. To these crystals, the strain of reentry and impact   
was of the order of a strong magical attack. So it was not surprising   
that some would survive reentry on their own. Sapphire in designing   
these crystals also designed them with a safety feature, designed to   
help in the aid of a surprise attack. Any attempt to destroy a   
crystal other than a precise dismantling of the stone would activate   
the crystal. And as such, those few crystals that did survive were   
activated. However, the strain of the abnormal time trip had drained   
most of their energy. Consequently, the resulting droids would need   
to absorb energy.  
  
The Sailor Senshi already, unknowingly, faced one of these demons.   
That particular droid had the misfortune of immediately drawing the   
attention of the Senshi upon activating. The current droid was of a   
stealth model. Upon activating it decided to gather information   
before filling its energy reserves. As such, it had determined that   
an ideal location for an energy drain was a nearby elementary school.   
It had inserted itself as a new piece of playground equipment,   
draining a little energy from each child that used it. Its energy   
reserves were now near full and it decided it was time to move onto   
default protocol 2: 'Destroy all targets not of the Black Moon   
Family.'  
  
With a new course of action set, it revealed itself, to the panicked   
screams of the children. With blast of energy the droid quickly began   
trapping the children and draining them of their energy. This   
particular droid looked like a hodgepodge of various playground   
equipment. And, its current attack of choice was a dark energy chain   
to entrap and then drain its victim's energy.  
  
Included amongst the children was a pink haired child. Momma, please   
help me. Thought the scared child as she tried to hide. Currently   
there were still too many conscious people for her to transform, and   
anyways she knew that she would never be able to take down this demon   
by herself. Cowering and whimpering behind a wall, she once again   
wished that her mother was here.  
  
*********  
Juuban Junior High  
  
For Usagi, class was following its normal predictable procession. Her   
teacher was droning on in front while she struggled to keep her eyes   
open. These past few days she had actually managed to arrive to class   
in time in the morning. Though, that was as much ChibiUsa's help as   
it was her own doing. ChibiUsa wanted to be walked to school by her   
mother, which required making sure her mother was up in time. As a   
result, Usagi was forcibly awoken every morning this week and had   
made it to class before the final bell. But, if she could not find a   
way to stay awake soon she would likely garner detention anyways.  
  
Haruna sighed as she noticed Usagi's head begin to droop for the   
umpteenth time this afternoon. I should not be surprised, though I   
do have to give her credit for actually making it here on time   
lately. That new student, Ami seems to have been a good influence on   
her. Well I probably should wake her up again.  
  
But before Haruna could open her mouth, Usagi suddenly sat straight   
up with a panicked look on her face. "ChibiUsa-chan!" she called out,   
getting the attention of the entire class. And much to everyone's   
surprise, except possibly Ami, she darted out of the room.   
  
Haruna was not sure what to make of Usagi's exclamation, but was   
concerned about the look of utter panic on the student's face. But   
what caught her attention was the panic that shortly thereafter   
appeared on Ami's face. And then, she was left dumfounded as Ami ran   
out of the room after Usagi. She was not sure what to make of the   
situation, only that something bad must have happened. With her mind   
in a daze she gave her class a reading assignment while she tried to   
sort out what had just happened. Usagi I might expect something like   
that of, but for Ami to ran off too. And, she also had that look of   
utter panic, though not quite so severe.  
  
*********  
Outside the school  
  
After nearly becoming hoarse in trying to get Usagi's attention, Ami   
had managed to slow her down enough to catch up with the blond.   
"Usagi, what is the matter? I heard you call out ChibiUsa's name, and   
then that look of horror on your face."  
  
"Ami-chan, something has happened to her. I can feel her fear. Call   
the others, Moon Prism Power, Make Up!" As Usagi finished her   
statement she became Sailor Moon and took to the rooftops.  
  
Ami was quick on the uptake and quickly followed suit, before   
summoning the others. It took a few moments for the other two to   
respond, they did need to extract themselves from class. Rei was not   
at all happy about being called away from school on a feeling from   
Usagi. Ami cut the transmission as Rei was babbling about how this   
had better not be a false alarm.   
  
As the two neared ChibiUsa's school, Ami felt her hope vanish as she   
realized that this was not a false alarm. There in the middle of the   
playground was a demon and strewn around it were around a hundred   
children wrapped up in chains and unconscious. A large shriek and   
wail caused her to turn her head and find that one of the victims was   
ChibiUsa. Sailor Moon knelt down next her daughter and picked the   
child up. Unfortunately in her distress she had failed to take   
account of the creature and instead had set herself up as a nice   
inviting target. Mercury saw the creature fire a set of dark energy   
chains and without a moment's hesitation threw herself into the line   
of fire to protect her princess.  
  
Hearing the scream of agony, Sailor Moon was jolted back to reality   
in time to see a battered Sailor Mercury fall to the ground. She   
moved to help Mercury, but instead was forced to jump out of the way   
as another attack came. With the child in her arms, Sailor Moon was   
unable to retaliate with any of her own attacks. And, she was not   
about to put down her unconscious daughter. Unfortunately for her,   
one of the droid's chains managed to wrap itself around her leg   
causing her to fall to the ground. As she fell, she twisted so that   
she would land on her back. This particular landing jarred her more   
than landing on her front would have, but prevented her from crushing   
ChibiUsa when she fell.   
  
Sailor Moon began to feel her energy be drained by the creature. But,   
then just as quickly as it started it stopped, a rose had disrupted   
the chain, and she was free. The masked thrower jumped down and   
collected the child. "Sailor Moon, I will protect her, you take out   
that youma."  
  
"Hai." Replied Sailor Moon as she got back onto her feet. The droid,   
however, had not been seriously injured and decided to release a sand   
blast. Coughing, the two jumped clear to other areas of the   
playground. How am I going to defeat this demon? Oh, I hope Mercury   
is all right, I wish the others were here now.  
  
As if to answer her prayers a call rang out "How dare you disrupt   
this peaceful area of learning."  
  
"And disrupt our attempts to learn. I am Sailor Mars."   
  
"And I am Sailor Venus."  
  
"And we will punish you." Venus and Mars finished together.  
  
As the droid turned to take in its two new opponents, it came face to   
face with both a fireball and a crescent beam. The attacks had been   
launched at near point blank range, and as such the demon was unable   
to dodge them. Unfortunately, the attacks barely phased the demon.   
Instead, it shot out a set of energy chains at both Senshi. Mars and   
Venus were able to dodge the attack, but only barely as they were in   
shock over how little damage they did.  
  
With the droid's attention drawn, Sailor Moon attempted to use her   
Tiara. However, it too failed to make a dent in the droid. At least,   
though, the droid did scream in pain before unleashing a massive   
attack barrage that had the Senshi looking for shelter. Around this   
time Mercury had finally come to and managed to craw off to the   
sidelines of the battle. She still did not have enough energy to   
stand or use any of her magic. Instead she deployed her visor and   
begun analyze their target. What she saw did not encourage her one   
bit. The power levels on this creature were substantially higher than   
the ones they had fought before. She wondered to herself on whether   
or not they had enough power to destroy the creature.   
  
Tuxedo-kamen noticed the blue Senshi on the sidelines. With a blur of   
the eye, he had deposited his bundle. As the child left his arms, he   
felt a surge of energy pass from her into himself. Moving to aid the   
Senshi, he felt stronger. With a flick of his wrist, he sent a dozen   
roses streaming at the demon. What? I have never been able to summon   
more than a rose or two without feeling drained before. Could that   
child I placed down have had something to do with it? he wondered.   
In his reflection, he was caught off guard by the retaliatory strike   
by the droid. While he was able to dodge the attack, he had lost the   
advantageous position he was in moments ago.   
  
*********  
Back at Juuban Junior High School  
  
Makoto sat watching the clock tick away the time, it had been a   
little over half an hour since Usagi and Ami's sudden departure. For   
some reason she felt a strong urge to be elsewhere. Where she did not   
exactly know, only that she needed to get out of here. What is it   
with me? she wondered. Why do I have this urge to go? in trying to   
sort out her thoughts she thought back to lunch, when Usagi   
befriended her. As she thought more about the new friend that she had   
made on her first day, she realized that she felt protective of that   
girl. Why am I feeling like this? Usagi never seemed to question my   
reputation. But why do I feel like I need to protect her. I can't   
take it anymore! I have to go find her!  
  
With that thought, she pushed back her chair stood up and walked out   
of the room. Once in the hall she began to run, where to she did not   
know, only that she needed to get there fast. Haruna noticed the new   
student get up and leave the room. Great, another one of my students   
has wandered off. She knew of Makoto's reputation, but for some   
reason she felt that Makoto's departure had something to do with   
Usagi's departure. Guess I will try to find out answers when they   
return, and decide what to do then.  
  
Makoto for her part was now barreling down the sidewalks, letting her   
instincts guide her. She began to hear sounds of a battle, which only   
caused her to run faster. Turning the corner, she saw three Sailor   
Senshi and a caped man fighting some kind of monster. Without even   
pausing, she continued straight onto the school grounds and towards   
the monster.  
  
The droid focusing on what it saw as real threats did not pay much   
attention to the newcomer. This inattention allowed Makoto to get a   
series of punches in. The next thing the droid knew it was sailing   
through the air. If the Senshi had not been fighting for the past   
thirty plus minutes they may have been able to finish it off there   
and then. But, unfortunately they did not have enough energy to   
destroy the creature.  
  
Luna and Artemis who had begun watching the fight with Mercury some   
time earlier also noticed the arrival of the newcomer. "Artemis do   
you see what I see?" questioned Luna referring to the glowing sigil   
of Jupiter on Makoto's forehead.  
  
"Yes, it is the final Senshi, Jupiter." Replied Artemis.  
  
Not really waiting for Artemis's answer, Luna darted onto the   
battlefield. She ran towards the newcomer, who had the sense of mind   
to be running now from the enraged droid's attacks. "Jupiter take   
this wand and call forth your powers" commanded Luna as she did her   
back flip.  
  
Makoto turned to see who was talking and saw a black cat that   
appeared to be addressing her. And, then a cylinder was flying   
towards her. As she grabbed the device, knowledge came up from the   
recesses of her mind. "Jupiter Power, Makeup!" she called out. And,   
with lighting bolts dancing out of the sky and around her body she   
became the Pretty Suited Soldier: Sailor Jupiter.  
  
Turning, she began to advance on the droid. The droid itself began to   
back peddle as it attempted to assess this new threat. Unfortunately   
for it, Jupiter did not give it anytime as she immediately threw   
lightning at the creature and then followed through with more hand-  
to-hand combat. As she pulled back out, the dazed demon was hit by a   
combined attack from Venus, Mars and Sailor Moon and a floral   
arrangement. The combined attack proved too much for it and it   
disintegrated into moon dust.  
  
With the monster destroyed, Venus, Mercury, Mars and Sailor Moon   
dropped their transformations and slumped to the ground. The three   
had managed to move next to Mercury first before collapsing. Jupiter   
who was still in relatively good shape moved to join them before   
reverting back to her civilian self.  
  
ChibiUsa had begun to stir near the end of the battle, and was now   
fully awake. "Momma!" She cried as she saw Usagi collapse to the   
ground. She quickly moved from the hold that Ami still held on her to   
Usagi who quickly wrapped her up in a bear hug. Turning the pink   
haired child noticed Makoto standing outside the group looking a   
little lost. "Mako-chan!" she called out happy to see her other   
friend again, having wondered why she hadn't seen the Senshi of   
Jupiter these past few days. "Where have you been? I thought Usagi   
must have been hogging all your delicious food."  
  
A now thoroughly stunned and confused Makoto moved to take a seat   
next to the other girls. Who is she? How does she now my name, and   
why is she being so familiar with me? And why is she calling Usagi   
momma?  
  
However, her questions were going to need to wait. "We had better be   
getting back to class, we already are going to be in enough trouble   
as it is for skipping out like this." Announced Ami.  
  
Makoto was about to object, but was cut off by Luna. "Ami-chan is   
right, you should get back to class. Though, we had better meet at   
the shrine later today to discuss this fight and to fill in Sailor   
Jupiter on what is happening."  
  
A battered Usagi stood holding her daughter and began to move off the   
field. Ami followed Usagi out, with the aid of Makoto. While she had   
recovered a lot from the blast, she still could not walk nor stand   
for long periods of time on her own. Minako and Rei also stood and   
began to move off towards their respective schools. Luna was about to   
suggest that Usagi leave ChibiUsa here with her classmates (who were   
just now starting to wake up), but one look at her face killed that   
thought. There was no way Usagi was going to part with her child   
after that battle. Very likely Usagi was not going to let that child   
out of her sight for the rest of the day.  
  
*********  
  
As the trio made their way back to the school, Makoto's head was full   
of confusing thoughts as she attempted to make sense of what had just   
happened. Normally she would have demanded explanations right then   
and there, but something stopped her from asking for them. Instead   
she was helping Ami, at least that was what she thought the blue   
haired girl's name was, walk back to the school. Usagi walked next to   
the two of them cuddling that pink hair child who had a strong   
resemblance to her against her chest. Usagi who had finally recovered   
from her emotional shock enough to talk interrupted her thoughts.  
  
"Thanks for your help Makoto-chan. I did not think that we were going   
to survive that one. After school we will be able to explain   
everything to you."  
  
"It was no problem Usagi-chan. I felt a strange urge to find you   
after you ran out of class. By the way, who is that child you are   
carrying, how did she know my name, and why did she refer to you as   
her mother."  
  
"Because she is, and I am from the future Mako-chan." Replied the   
pink haired bundle that had decided to enter the conversation.   
"Though, to others I am her distant cousin."  
  
Makoto was only half surprised to here this, Kami-sama knows she had   
experienced enough weird stuff for one day and with that meeting this   
afternoon she expected it to get worse. So unlike the others when   
they heard of the relationship she just smiled, continued walking,   
her only response being "So that is why she looks so much like you."  
  
The pace of the trio had slowed upon reaching the front of the   
school. After a moment to get their nerve the three stepped through   
the doors and headed back to the class they had run out on.  
  
Haruna was in the middle of grading some papers, while her students   
did some assigned reading when the trio entered the room. Kami-sama   
what happened to them! as she looked up she saw a battered Ami being   
helped to her chair by Makoto. Makoto herself did not appear to have   
any bruises on her. She must have arrived after what ever the other   
two ran off towards. Looking at the third member, she saw Usagi   
holding a small child in her arms. The protective grasp that Usagi   
had on the child and the look of sorrow on her face vanquished any   
thought of punishing the trio for running out. Instead, she moved to   
the trio to offer assistance.  
  
"Ami-chan, Makoto-chan, Usagi-chan what happened? Here let me take   
you three to the nurse."  
  
As they were herded out of the room and down the hall, Makoto, the   
only one with any energy to answer the questions, spoke up. "I am not   
quite sure what happened, when I arrived the Sailor Senshi were   
battling some monster. Ami-chan was knocked out on the ground near   
the child whom Usagi is holding. I believe she is a cousin of Usagi."  
  
As she finished her explanation, they arrived at the nurse's office.   
Ami was immediately taken and laid down on a bed. The nurse after   
convincing herself that Ami was okay and just needed rest now moved   
to examine Usagi and the child she held. The child appears to be in   
good shape, just a little lethargic, but I am worried about her big   
sister. She looks like she is about to go into shock. "Usagi your   
little sister is going to be fine. You can let her down now."  
  
As Usagi slowly began to truly become aware of her surroundings, she   
looked at her daughter and finally realized that ChibiUsa was in fine   
condition, and placed her down on the ground. However, the fact that   
the child was okay did not really help her. Instead, the fear she had   
been fighting finally got to her and she collapsed into a ball on the   
couch she was sitting on. Haruna and the nurse looked worriedly on   
the distressed student as they tried to calm her. Unfortunately, for   
them, any attempt to tell her that there was nothing she could have   
done was unsuccessful. Moreover, it just made her cry even harder,   
perplexing them.  
  
*********  
  
A figure had been watching the battle and aftermath from a place   
where time had no meaning. It took all her will not to interfere as   
she saw her future queen get taken for a ride by the creature.   
Thankfully, as she was about to say screw the rules, Jupiter entered   
the scene. She breathed a sigh of relief, as the creature was   
defeated. While the Senshi did not know why the creature was so much   
stronger than the others, she did. Earlier in the day, she had begun   
tracing down the other travelers who were caught by the blast in the   
time-stream. Unfortunately, one of them was Rubeus. She had sworn   
when she discovered that he had been brought to the past. She had no   
idea where he was, but it was obvious that his droids had also   
survived the trip. The Senshi were not ready to battle these   
creatures.  
  
Currently she was now watching the group in the school's nurse's   
office. She was relieved when the nurse announced that Ami and Small   
Lady were okay. She had feared that Ami had been seriously hurt when   
she was unable to stand for more than a few moments on her own. Now   
she was watching as her future queen curled up into a ball and began   
to collapse. That does it! My queen needs me! And with that she   
open the Gate of Spacetime and stepped through.  
  
*********  
  
Feeling a presence, Haruna looked behind her and was startled to find   
a strange woman standing behind her. I did not here a door open.   
She thought to herself. The mysterious lady was dressed in a nice   
business outfit, had long emerald colored hair, held a strange staff   
that resembled a key in her hand, and had eyes of severe   
determination that seemed to glow as much as the orb on top of the   
staff. The newcomer quickly moved towards the distraught student.  
  
"I am a family friend." She said, answering the unspoken question.   
Both the nurse and Haruna sensed that this strange lady might want   
some privacy and so moved back a bit.   
  
Noticing the change, ChibiUsa looked up. "PU!" she exclaimed and   
bounced from her mother's side where she had been trying to cheer up   
the collapsed Usagi into Pluto's arms.  
  
"Small Lady." Pluto acknowledged the little child's presence and   
somehow managed to catch the bundle with the limited warning that she   
had. Now carrying the concerned child she moved up next to Usagi. "My   
queen, forgive me" she quietly asked while kneeling in front of   
Usagi.  
  
The formal title use, had the desired effect. "Forgive you for what?"   
At first Usagi did not know who this strange woman in front of her   
was, but then she noticed the time staff and realized that it was   
Pluto.  
  
"For not being there to protect you and the princess, my queen."  
  
"It is not your fault, we should have been better prepared."   
responded Usagi, not wanting anyone else to feel responsible for her.  
  
This was the answer that Pluto was looking for. Grasping Usagi's chin   
and forcing her to look into her eyes she told Usagi: "If it is not   
my fault, then you cannot be at fault either." Without letting Usagi   
object, she continued. "Remember that we are your guardians. Your and   
the princess's welfare is our responsibility. We have our powers so   
that we can protect you. There was nothing you could have done   
differently to defeat that droid."  
  
Usagi tried her best to find fault with Pluto's reasoning, trying to   
find someway to blame herself. But after a minute, she gave up and   
instead attempted to put the incident behind her. To the other two in   
the room, Usagi's change was a miracle. One moment she was crying and   
emotionally collapsed and the next she had regained her composure.   
All because of whatever that strange women had said to her. Looking   
more closely Haruna noticed that the strange glow from the orb on top   
of that peculiar staff had all but vanished.  
  
Standing, Pluto pulled Usagi up as well. ChibiUsa now stood on the   
floor between the two of them. Her mood was now a cheery one, as her   
mother was no longer depressed. "Usagi let me take you home."  
  
The nurse made a move to interject. But that look of determination on   
the women's face made her consider otherwise. Well that child seems   
to know her real, well and Usagi does seem to trust her.  
  
Pluto looked towards the nurse and addressed her. "I will take Usagi-  
chan to her house. Juuban Elementary School should be called and   
informed that a student by the name of Tsukino Usagi was brought here   
and is now being taken home with her cousin. And, that she is fine   
after the demon attack on the school." When she mentioned ChibiUsa's   
name, she patted ChibiUsa's head to indicate that she was referring   
to the smaller child and not the older teenager.  
  
Pluto stopped on her way out to check on Makoto and Ami. Ami lay   
resting on the bed, while Makoto kept an eye on her. "Makoto-chan I   
am taking Usagi home. I will see you two later at the Hikawa Shrine."  
  
Great, someone else who seems to know everything that is going on   
Makoto muttered to herself. The nurse cleared Makoto to return to   
class, and so she returned with Haruna. Ami remained in the nurse's   
office, awaiting the arrival of her mom whom had just been called by   
the nurse.   
  
For Makoto the rest of the school day passed by in a blur. Afterwards   
she did not have any recollection of what they went over in class,   
her notebook remained unwritten in. Instead, she was lost in thought   
pondering all that had happened that afternoon. Haruna noticed how   
distracted Makoto was, but decided it best to let her be. She   
herself, after all was having a hard enough time trying to cope with   
what had happened. And, she, unlike Makoto, had not seen those   
mythical Senshi in action.  
  
*********  
Juuban Elementary School  
  
Zoisite and Kunzite were examining the battlefield for the third   
time. Earlier in the day they had decided to locate their next   
target. However, shortly after arriving they felt strong energy   
surges nearby, usually the hallmark of a battle with magic. Curious   
they decided to locate the source of these energy surges, hoping to   
possibly use it to aid in their goal.  
  
They were not at all prepared for what they found at this particular   
location. Gathering information from those who had seen what had   
occurred had just confused the two Dark Kingdom Generals even more.   
We should be the only forces operating in this area. But the Senshi   
obviously battled a demon of some sort. Who sent it and why?   
wandered Kunzite. To Zoisite he spoke "Could this be related to that   
energy spike Beryl had you investigating before?"  
  
"I don't know, but I am guessing so. We obviously have another party   
here. What worries me is the time span those bystanders gave for the   
battle. This battle apparently lasted nearly an hour and according to   
at least a couple people the Senshi were being beaten badly."   
Unspoken, but evident was the concern that this new party appeared to   
be far stronger than the Dark Kingdom.  
  
"We are going to need to inform Beryl of this development, she is not   
going to be pleased. But if can find a way to use this new party for   
our own purposes." Deciding that they had collected enough   
information the two opened a portal and prepared to make their less   
than desirable report to Beryl. At least we won't have to inform her   
of a failure was the only uplifting thought that they could come up   
with as they stepped into the portal.  
  
End Chapter 5  
  
Author's note:  
I thought I should probably mention where all of my titles are   
coming from. They are derived from "Babylon 5" by JMS.  



	6. The Face of the Enemy

The Fragility of Time  
Chapter 6: "The Face of the Enemy"  
Author: etj4Eagle  
Email: etj4Eagle@yahoo.com  
http://www.geocities.com/etj4eagle  
Lasted Edited: 9/9/00  
  
Disclaimer: A reminder I own none of the characters of this story,   
all rights are owned by others.   
If you distribute the story, do only   
so freely and inform me of where you post it.  
  
_______________________________________  
  
Ikuko was slightly surprised when she heard the front door open with   
still an hour left before Usagi's school let out (not that she   
expected her back to that evening). Her mothering instincts kicked in   
as soon as she saw the haggard looking Usagi enter the house.  
  
Pluto knew the question that was forming in Ikuko's mind. "Tsukino-  
san don't worry, your daughter is fine. The princess just needs some   
rest and time to herself to get over the emotional drain from earlier   
today." Ikuko gave Pluto a look requesting more information. "I will   
explain shortly, now the princess should lay down." And with that,   
she led the two Usagis out of the room and up the stairs.  
  
She must be associated with the Senshi. concluded Ikuko. While she   
wanted to run up and mother her daughter while she found out what   
happened, she decided to wait. She did not need to wait long, as   
shortly there after, this new women returned downstairs, minus the   
two she had escorted upstairs.  
  
"I am the Guardian of Spacetime, Sailor Pluto. You can call me   
Setsuna." Pluto wasted no time in answering Ikuko's questions. "There   
was a droid attack at Juuban Elementary School. This monster is one   
that they should not have had to fight until later, when they are   
stronger. As a result, it took them near an hour to defeat it.   
However, that is not the reason why your daughter is distraught.   
Small Lady was drained prior to their arrival, and the inability of   
being able to stop the creature that had hurt her daughter   
emotionally destroyed your daughter. I believe I have rebuilt her   
confidence, and her cheerful nature will help her bounce back."  
  
Ikuko sat adsorbing all that had just been said. She was slightly in   
shock from learning that the Senshi had trouble destroying the   
creature. In thinking about her daughter's distraught state, she   
thought about what shape she would be in if she saw Usagi hurt and   
was unable to do anything about it.   
  
Seeing the light of comprehension cross Ikuko's eyes, Setsuna decide   
to take her leave. "Tsukino-san why don't you go see your daughter. I   
need to go feel the pull of time from various points in this city,   
but I will be back later." With that, Setsuna stood, open a time   
portal and stepped through.  
  
Ikuko proceeded to move to Usagi's room. In it, she found Usagi   
curled up around ChibiUsa and a worried looking Luna. Moving to sit   
down on the bed next to Usagi, Ikuko began the process of reassuring   
her daughter.  
  
*********  
  
After leaving the Tsukino household, Setsuna reappeared on top of   
various buildings around the city. With each stop, she opened her   
body to feel the flow of time. Normally she would just feel the flow   
of time from one place, but with the future so uncertain, she wanted   
to make sure that she did the right thing.   
  
With each stop, her feel for the flow got clearer. While she did not   
know, nor would so ever while she remained in linear time, what was   
to come, she now had a good idea of what the consequences of various   
actions would be. For her now the one that was of utmost importance   
was her presence in linear time.   
  
Pluto was relieved when she determined that the flow of time would be   
best helped by her presence. One additional item caught her attention   
while she examined the flow of time: the awakening of the other   
Senshi of the Ends of the Solar System. Time was too muddled for her   
to get a good grasp of their effect. She would need to be in close   
proximity to them before she could determine their effects on the   
flow of time.   
  
With her task and questions answered for the time she opened a portal   
to a park. Upon arriving, she put away her time staff. Noticing the   
nice day for the first time, she decided to enjoy the weather for a   
bit, while she waited for the Senshi meeting.   
  
*********  
The Hikawa Shrine  
  
"Where is the Odango-Atama!" questioned a very irate Rei. She was not   
in a happy mood after the punishment she got for sneaking off campus   
to fight that demon. Additionally she was still nursing bruises from   
the beating they had taken, consequently her normally very volatile   
temper was flaring up as never before.  
  
"The princess will not be coming today." Announced a figure entering   
the room, with Luna in tow behind her.  
  
"Who are you?" Snapped Rei.  
  
With a wave of her hand, she summoned the time staff and let her   
transformation overtake her body. "I am Sailor Pluto, the Guardian of   
Time." And then with another flicker she reapplied her civilian   
glamour, but left her time staff out.  
  
The only other time the Senshi had seen the elusive Guardian of Time   
with their current memories, was shortly after ChibiUsa arrived.   
Though that time it was strictly as a projection of her Senshi form,   
so it was no real surprise that they not recognize her when she   
appeared in front of them with a civilian glamour over her body.  
  
"Is Usagi okay?" questioned a concerned Makoto.  
  
"Makoto-chan, don't worry. Usagi will be fine, she just needs time to   
recover from the emotional shock of today's battle." Looking over the   
assembled group, her gaze fell on Ami who appeared to be about ready   
to ask a question. "Yes Ami-chan, I know why the creature you fought   
was so much stronger than the others. It is not a youma, but a droid.   
This particular type of demon is from the future, and is one that you   
were not supposed to fight until later, when Small Lady came back for   
the first time. If they are here then that means that Rubeus is here   
as well, he is a general of the Black Moon."  
  
The assembled Senshi and cats were shocked in learning that they now   
faced a threat from the future as well. As if the Dark Kingdom was   
not enough, now we have enemies from the future with far stronger   
monsters trying to kill us as well. was the thought that was   
crossing the various Senshi's minds.  
  
"I have decided that it would be best for me to remain here in the   
past for the time. I will help you with defeating the droids.   
However, for now you will need to face the Dark Kingdom on your own.   
There are some other things that I need to attend to, so if you do   
not object Commander I would like to take my leave."  
  
After seeing the blank looks coming from the Senshi, she decided to   
explain her last statement. "Minako-chan you are the commander of the   
Senshi. This is why as Sailor-V and even now your uniform has   
elements of the Princess's uniform. This is to protect her identity."  
  
Minako, now slowly beginning to comprehend what was going on,   
assented to Setsuna's request to leave.   
  
Setsuna had not taken more than a few steps away from the shrine when   
she heard Rei's explosive temper. While she could not make out the   
exact words, it had something to do with another ditzy blond being in   
charge. She chuckled to herself a little as she continued to stroll   
away. Mars is of yet unable to admit to her sisterly love towards   
Usagi. She will shortly accept Venus's position, she is just worried   
about Usagi and I provided her with a nice outlet for her   
frustration. Probably should make it up to Venus at some point. But   
then she remembered the fate worse than death that would befall the   
Senshi the next time they got sick, with Minako here now to nurse   
them back to health, and decided that all was fair.  
  
*********  
The Dark Kingdom  
  
"My liege" began Kunzite as he and Zoisite gave low bows. "We have   
reason to believe that there is another potentially more powerful   
force draining energy from this city as well."  
  
"WHAT?!?" barreled Beryl  
  
"We believe that the Senshi faced a demon today, that was not one of   
our own. In addition this battle apparently lasted close to an hour   
of their time." Seeing a very irate Beryl glare at him, Zoisite tried   
to save himself from the certain doom that was about to become him.   
"However, Beryl if we are able to harness this new player as an ally,   
we will be unstoppable."  
  
This last statement softened slightly the pure fury that raged in   
Beryl's eyes. "Fine try to secure the cooperation of this new player,   
but I want the Ginzuishou now!"  
  
"Beryl, we have come up with a plan for getting the remaining   
Nijizuishou Crystals. However, it will require the sacrifice of one   
to the Senshi." Noticing Beryl's temper begin to rise again, Kunzite   
hurried on with his explanation. "We need to know what the   
relationship between that child and the crystal is."  
  
"Fine, but my patience with you two is wearing thin. Do not fail me."  
  
With great relief, the two generals left Beryl's throne room, glad to   
still be alive. "Do you remember the plan?" questioned Kunzite.  
  
"Yes, I try to grab another one of those crystals as normal, but you   
will be observing and monitoring the energy readings of that child   
and the crystal as it is extracted." Replied Zoisite.  
  
*********  
Tokyo  
  
During the little more than a week that Rubeus had been employed with   
his new organization, he had already made himself invaluable. No one   
quite understood how a mission that should have ended in disaster for   
their side would become a complete victory for them if Rubeus was   
present. While he showed great fighting skills, they were only useful   
at close range, as he did not carry a gun. But his presence seemed to   
allow those one in a million shots to occur. What they did not   
realize was that those one in a million shots were really Rubeus   
using some of his magic. However, they did not care, he was a good   
luck charm and a great planner and leader. He had already become well   
received well up the organization's chain of command.  
  
The rewards he took for his service amounted to very little, and were   
in themselves peculiar, but he was an unusual man. One of his few   
requests he had put out was to always work with the same men, saying   
that he wanted to train them. The other was the request to be kept   
current, at real-time level, of any unusual happenings in the city,   
in particular those Sailor Senshi. If he was anyone else, his   
fascination with the Senshi would have earned him ridicule, but no   
body dared to cross this master.  
  
As it was, he had learned about the damage one of his rogue druids   
had caused. Too bad, I have to let those Senshi live; it would be so   
easy to destroy them now. I don't understand how they were able to   
destroy Metalia, her power rivals that of the Wiseman. Rubeus's   
ponderings were interrupted by a knock at his door. Ah, time for the   
training, if I could find a energy source to charge the dark crystal   
with, I could make those four into truly deadly tools. Getting up he   
opened the door and led his students in. Today's lesson was going to   
be unarmed combat, against a superior foe: himself.  
  
*********  
Crown Video Arcade  
  
The two Usagis were enjoying an afternoon of sipping milkshakes at   
the Video Arcade. Currently the Senshi, who figured that Usagi   
probably still needed some time to herself after what had happened   
two days earlier, left them mostly alone. Yesterday had been a key   
day for getting Usagi back to her normal self. She was mostly healed   
when she woke up, however, she was not yet ready to give up her   
assurance that ChibiUsa was okay. Consequently, ChibiUsa attended a   
different school for that day.   
  
Haruna was not at all surprised when she saw Usagi walk in with her   
cousin next to her. She was more surprised that Usagi was even in   
school that day, but she figured that taking her cousin with her was   
sufficient for Usagi to face the day. Thankfully, one of the students   
was sick, so with a little shuffle of seating, she had the two   
sitting next to each other. About two hours into the day, that   
strange woman appeared with some work from ChibiUsa's school for her   
to do. As school let out that day, she reflected that Usagi was   
probably the most productive that she had ever been that day.  
  
Today Usagi was able to let ChibiUsa go to her own school. Of course   
that was only with the promise from both Luna and Artemis that they   
would look over her daughter during the day. And as soon as school   
got out, she flew down the streets toward the elementary school. From   
there, she collected her daughter and the two had headed over to the   
Crown to get some milkshakes.   
  
Currently Minako was watching her princess from across the arcade. To   
most, she was playing one of the video games. But her work as Sailor-  
V taught her how to keep her eyes focused on two things at the same   
time. Noticing Naru enter the arcade and move to Usagi, she decided   
that those two would talk for a while and decided to devote a little   
more of her concentration to the game she was playing. Drat just got   
killed again. This game should not be that hard, heck I am Sailor-V!  
  
"Hey Usagi-chan, how are things going?" Asked Naru as she came in.   
She wanted to talk to Usagi about what had been bothering the blond   
yesterday. It was unusual for the blond to keep things from her, as   
they were best friends. And Usagi had helped her get over the death   
of Nephrite. Though she still wondered how Usagi knew that he was not   
human.  
  
Usagi looked up at the newcomer and a large smile quickly moved   
across her face. "Hi Naru-chan." Then realizing that while ChibiUsa   
had been here for about a week, she had not yet introduced her   
"cousin" yet to her best friend. She also recognized the 'you will   
spill the beans' look that was currently on Naru's face, and realized   
that her best friend might want an explanation for her behavior the   
other day. "Naru-chan this is my cousin ChibiUsa-chan, actually her   
name is Tsukino Usagi as well."  
  
Hearing this Naru gave a little laugh Figures they do look a lot   
alike, even the same hairstyle. "Nice to meet you ChibiUsa-chan.   
she addressed the child as she put out her hand for a shake.   
  
Within a few minutes, the two girls were catching up on old news.   
ChibiUsa got another look over when Naru heard that she had been a   
victim in the latest demon attack. As the two talked, a large smile   
grew on ChibiUsa's face. Motoki noticed the change in ChibiUsa's   
attitude and was able to quickly pin the change to the now fully   
rebounded Usagi. Those two are so much alike. Both care so much   
about others and are not happy unless everyone else is.  
  
Feeling happy that Usagi was back to her normal self, Motoki made his   
rounds around the arcade. This included passing by one blond who   
seemed to be unusually upset at the Sailor-V game. That is one weird   
one; she almost seems to be saying that the game is not accurately   
modeling her. I have to agree with that cat of hers (Artemis had an   
incredulous expression on his face over Minako's actions). Never   
thought a cat could show such human facial expressions. As Motoki   
was finishing up his rounds a man wearing a dark green jacket entered   
the arcade.  
  
"Ah the two Odango-Atamas what a surprise. Hey Odango-Atama!" the   
last bit being directed towards Usagi. "Have you actually managed to   
get yourself up in time in the morning, so that you don't collide   
with me on your way to school?" he teased Usagi.  
  
He was not quite surprised for the response he got. He was expecting   
a rebuttal from Usagi, but instead he got a quick kick in the shins   
by the pint-sized version of his target. "Baka Mamo-chan. Don't you   
dare talk to Usagi-chan like that after what she did." And with that,   
the pink haired child stormed towards the video games where she had   
noticed Minako.  
  
Everyone in the local vicinity of the current incident was left   
speechless. Usagi herself had been about ready to give a sharp   
retort, but now did not know quite what to do. Mamoru himself was   
beginning to turn as red as a beet and he of course had no idea what   
the child was implying. Motoki decided to go to the aid of his   
friend before he managed to shove his whole leg down his mouth or   
drop dead because all his blood was now pooled in his face. "Hey   
Mamoru why don't you take a seat over here and I will get you   
something to drink."  
  
Mamoru dutifully followed Motoki's command and sat down at the   
proffered booth. "Motoki?" He attempted to formulate a further   
question beyond that, but his brain was still not yet thinking   
straight.  
  
"That child was involved in the demon attack the other day and was   
injured. Usagi apparently arrived during the attack and has been   
emotionally distraught for the past few days over her inability to   
save her cousin from being injured. I have also heard that apparently   
she and Mizuno Ami, one of her friends, got beat up pretty badly   
during the battle." Motoki explained, answering Mamoru's confusion.  
  
By the UFO catcher, one of the normal patrons got up to leave, having   
filled his bag with goodies for the orphanage children. As he stepped   
outside the building, he was met by a man dressed in a gray uniform.  
  
"It is time for you to come home, Shadow Warrior." The man stated   
while producing a slowly rotating black crystal. With a scream, the   
crystal began to work its way out of the victim's chest.  
  
Inside the three Senshi heard the screams and made their way towards   
the door. Naru herself was puzzled by the sudden departure of Usagi,   
but she knew that Usagi tended to forget places that she needed to   
be. Mamoru himself suddenly felt the need to move out of the sight of   
everyone else.  
  
The gentle breeze and screams of a soul losing its dominance to a   
shadow warrior's dormant soul was broken by the arrival of the three   
Senshi. "How dare you attack that innocent man! In the name of the   
Moon, I am Sailor Moon and I will punish you." Stated Sailor Moon as   
ChibiMoon and Venus flanked her.   
  
Off in the shadows, Kunzite aimed his scanning equipment at   
ChibiMoon. Unknown to him two figures were watching him: one a man   
who was now suddenly wearing a white cloak with a couple golden moons   
on it, and the other a timeless woman in a Senshi Fuku. And shortly   
thereafter, a caped crusader was watching the main battle.  
  
"You won't get this crystal you Sailor Brats." Taunted Zoisite. And   
with his words, the crystal emerged from its victim's chest. As with   
the time before, the broach on ChibiUsa's body began to resonate with   
the Nijizuishou Crystal. Along with the broach's resonance, ChibiUsa   
herself resonated in tune with her broach. All those of the Moon's   
royal blood are linked with the crystal from the first time they use   
it. Princess Serenity herself was destined to become more interlinked   
than any previous ruler of the Silver Millennium. Hence, anything   
that affects the crystal affects their body as well, and vice-versa.   
However, the high level magic that was currently protecting princess   
Serenity prevented her body from resonating with the Nijizuishou   
crystal's energy. Though, there was no similar magic preventing   
Princess Usagi from resonating with the energy of the projected   
crystal that she carried, and her resonating far outshone that of the   
projected crystal itself.  
  
The result was that to Kunzite he saw one of the Sailor Senshi react   
to the presence of the Nijizuishou crystal. Unlike Luna and Artemis,   
he retained a fairly good set of memories of the structure and basics   
of the Silver Millennium, just nothing of his personal life before he   
began his service to the Dark Kingdom. "That child it is Princess   
Serenity, only one of the royal blood of the Moon would react so to a   
Nijizuishou crystal!" exclaimed Kunzite. And, remembering one of the   
basic commands given by Beryl, he prepared to eliminate this threat.  
  
Both observers had heard his exclamation and realized what he was   
about to do. The man in the white cloak moved out of the shadows and   
let a large volume of dark energy fly at Kunzite. Kunzite, caught off   
guard, was catapulted straight into the battle that was occurring   
between the Sailor Senshi and the Shadow Warrior.  
  
"Pathetic, even Sailor Moon fared better against that attack. Also no   
thought of a possible attack on himself, that is carelessness,   
wouldn't you say so my friend?" The last part of his statement being   
directed towards Pluto, who had been preparing to release a Dead   
Scream at him.  
  
Normally Pluto would not have known the identity of this man in front   
of her. But, the temporal energy that surrounded him clearly pointed   
towards him being Rubeus. "You die here Rubeus." She simply stated.  
  
"Ah yes the infamous guardian of time. I should be so honored that   
you personally came to see to my demise. However, would it surprise   
you that I am currently aiding the Senshi. I know as well as you the   
fate that awaits this world if Metalia is released. I will not lie to   
you, once that threat is eliminated I will kill your queen and the   
rabbit."  
  
As Pluto paused long enough to listen to Rubeus, she noticed   
something unusual: how time was flowing around him. Looking more   
closely at the weave of time she realized that she should let him   
live for now. Perplexed at this turn of events she turned and left   
Rubeus there in the street.  
  
Rubeus for his part while relieved was completely puzzled as to why   
he had just been spared. Deciding to put that mystery behind himself   
for the moment, he turned his attention to the battle. The commotion   
of Kunzite's flying entry into the battle had given Sailor Moon the   
opportunity she needed to heal the Shadow Warrior. Kunzite was   
currently explaining his discovery to Zoisite. Wait a moment they   
seem to be referring to that ChibiMoon as Princess Serenity.   
Suddenly seeing through the smaller moon's glamour Rubeus had to   
chuckle. Those fools, that is not Princess Serenity, but her   
daughter Princess Usagi. If she is also Sailor ChibiMoon, then that   
other Sailor Moon must be Neo-Queen Serenity. No wonder Sailor Moon   
is only a legend in my time, while the rest of the Senshi are life   
and blood. The future queen does not look quite right, but I do   
remember it being said that until she came of age she was cloaked in   
strong glamour magic. Which is also probably why those buffoons   
mistook that child for being the princess.  
  
Zoisite himself was not very happy with the entrance that Kunzite   
made, allowing the current Shadow Warrior to be destroyed without   
much of a fight at all. "Wait did you just say that the pink haired   
one is the Moon Princess?"  
  
"Yes, and some one blasted me from behind as I was about to take her   
out." Replied Kunzite.  
  
"Well she dies now." Stated Zoisite as she let forth a barrage of   
energy.   
  
A barrage of roses stopped the attack. Two surprised generals looked   
up to see Tuxedo-kamen standing a top of a nearby lamp. He himself had   
missed the recent exchange about the identity of the pink haired   
child. Before the two generals could launch another attack, the   
remaining Senshi appeared on the scene. Deciding that they were now   
outmatched they open a portal and returned to the Dark Kingdom base.  
  
*********  
The Dark Kingdom: Beryl's throne room  
  
"My queen we have discovered why that child has control over the   
Nijizuishou crystals. She is Princess Serenity." Announced Zoisite  
  
"That child is the Moon Princess?!" exclaimed Beryl. "I want her   
destroyed immediately."  
  
"Of course your majesty. We were already developing a plan while we   
were carrying out this scouting mission. The next attempt to gather a   
Nijizuishou crystal will be a trap for the little princess. We shall   
use additional youma to keep the other Senshi busy as well." Replied   
Kunzite.  
  
And with that, the two left the throne room, for once actually being   
in slightly better standing with Beryl. Of course they conveniently   
avoided mentioning the fact that somebody interfered with Kunzites   
earlier attempt to eliminate the princess earlier that day.   
  
End Chapter 6  
  
End Notes  
  
On the title, the enemy here refers to Beryl's enemy: Princess   
Serenity. Of course, the face that Beryl thinks belongs to her   
enemy is the wrong face.  
  
Rubeus and some other players will start to become integral to   
the story in the following chapters. Though not too much till   
after the reintegration of the Ginzuishou.  



	7. Soul Mates

The Fragility of Time  
Chapter 7: "Soul Mates"  
Author: etj4Eagle  
Email: etj4Eagle@yahoo.com  
http://www.geocities.com/etj4eagle  
Lasted Edited: 9/9/00  
  
Disclaimer: A reminder I own none of the characters of this story,   
all rights are owned by others.   
If you distribute the story, do only   
so freely and inform me of where you post it.  
  
_______________________________________  
  
It had been a couple of days since the last demon attack and the   
Usagis were enjoying an afternoon in the park with the rest of the   
Senshi. Usagi currently lay on the grass staring off into the clouds   
and dreaming about Tuxedo-Kamen. Ami as could be expected lay against   
a tree entirely involved in a massive book. However, unlike her   
normal reading this one was an ancient text supposedly dealing with   
the magical arts. Her mother was slightly confused by her daughter's   
recent fascination with the supernatural. Makoto was preparing lunch   
with the aid of Rei, while Minako was having entirely too much fun on   
the swings. ChibiUsa, herself, had wandered off slightly into the   
park.  
  
ChibiUsa was admiring the nice weather, when a gust of wind caught   
her sun hat and blew it down the slope she was standing on. Her   
initial attempt to catch the hat as it blew off failed and instead   
she tumbled down the slope, scraping her knees. With tears, from the   
pain, slightly clouding her eyes she attempted to standup, but   
stopped when she noticed another girl slightly older than her   
standing in front of her.  
  
"I believe this is yours." Said the sickly looking girl with black   
hair.  
  
"Thank you" replied ChibiUsa while sticking out her hand "my name is   
ChibiUsa. What are you doing?" she asked referring to the jars with   
fabric covers nearby.  
  
"Nice to meet you ChibiUsa-chan, I am Hotaru. I am collecting   
sleeping fireflies from bushes. Would you like to collect some as   
well?"  
  
"Hai" replied ChibiUsa, and the two began to look for fireflies on   
the undersides of bush leaves.  
  
A friendship very quickly developed between the two girls. Hotaru   
found herself with her first real friend. The other children in   
school were scared away either by her sickly condition or by her   
strange healing powers. While ChibiUsa so far did not know about   
those healing abilities, Hotaru had a strange feeling that things   
would be different with this girl. For Hotaru, unfortunately one of   
her spasm attacks hit too soon.  
  
Noticing her new friend dropping to the ground, clutching her chest   
with some apparent breathing trouble "Hotaru-chan! What's wrong?"   
exclaimed a very concerned ChibiUsa as she moved to Hotaru's side.   
Grasping the older girl's hand, she tried to will her better.  
  
"Don't worry ChibiUsa, the spasm will pass." Said Hotaru as she tried   
to reassure the scared child. And about half a minute later, the   
spasm did pass allowing Hotaru to get back up. "Thank you ChibiUsa."   
She said while releasing the hand she had been holding through most   
of her spasm.   
  
Then looking down she noticed the cut on ChibiUsa's knee. "Did you   
get this when you fell down the hill?" She asked ChibiUsa. With the   
other child's nod, she placed her hand over the knee and a warm   
violet light began to glow between the hand and the knee. "Here let   
me help make it better."  
  
The excitement of making a new friend here in the past had   
temporarily caused ChibiUsa to forget about the cut on her knee. But,   
with Hotaru, pointing it out she could once again feel the stiffness   
and dull ache that accompanied a wound. However, as Hotaru placed her   
hand over the knee, ChibiUsa felt the pain begin to melt away. Then   
as she looked down when Hotaru removed her hand, she noticed that the   
wound had been fully healed.  
  
Hotaru pulled her hand away and began to look sheepishly away. "The   
others at school are afraid of this healing power that I have."  
  
Hotaru still expected ChibiUsa to scamper away in fright, in spite of   
her earlier conviction that things would be different with this girl.   
Instead, she got a sudden hug from a very grateful ChibiUsa. "I think   
that power is a incredible and wonderful gift Hotaru-chan." That   
statement by ChibiUsa made Hotaru's day and she wholeheartedly   
returned the hug to ChibiUsa happy to have finally made a real   
friend.   
  
The final exchange including the healing had been witnessed by   
another girl with her hair done up in odangos. She had been walking   
the path looking for her daughter to inform her that lunch was ready.   
Moving up to the two "ChibiUsa-chan who is your new friend?"  
  
A slightly startled ChibiUsa looked behind her to see her "cousin"   
standing nearby. "Usagi this is Hotaru. Hotaru-chan this is my cousin   
Usagi whom I am staying with."  
  
"ChibiUsa lunch is ready, why don't you ask your friend if she would   
like to join us."  
  
Hotaru attempted to politely decline the offer, but very quickly   
discovered that it was a battle that she was doomed to loose. As   
such, she soon found herself seated with ChibiUsa's cousin's friends   
eating lunch. Initially she was nervous about being around them, but   
they seemed to treat her with an open heart as well. An hour later,   
she finally had to part ways with ChibiUsa, but not before promising   
to stop by her house sometime and extending a similar offer to   
ChibiUsa and her cousin.   
  
A green haired lady watched the group walk off. She had been   
observing Hotaru all afternoon trying to get a feeling for the flow   
of time around her. But as usual, she could not detect how time would   
flow with the Senshi of Destruction. Instead, all she got a sense of   
was time coming to an end and beginning again. This was not   
surprising given Hotaru's powers, but it was still unnerving to an   
individual accustomed to knowing all the answers. She was interested   
in whether or not the Death Busters would move sooner this time, but   
as she expected she was unable to find anything out be observing   
Hotaru.  
  
*********  
Later the evening at a concert hall  
  
Michiru left the stage with rounds of applause following her violin   
solo. She did not know where the music she just played came from. The   
piece had started out normal, but part way through it she found   
herself playing to a different score instead of the one she had   
practiced for this concert. Part of herself told her that this was a   
very old piece that she knew very well, but she could not remember   
ever hearing it before much less practicing it. In fact, those of the   
earth had never heard this piece, and the last time it was played was   
a thousand years ago.  
  
Her soul had been moved to play this piece following the feelings   
that she had been having all week. Initially the aqua-haired   
performer tried to dismiss the feelings has performance jitters. But,   
deep down she knew that something was about to happen that would   
change her life forever. Haruka tried to comfort her, however, the   
blond did not comprehend the feelings that Michiru was having. As   
result of these feelings of pending change, Michiru was not at all   
surprised to find a strange woman with green tinted hair waiting for   
her in her dressing room.   
  
"It is time isn't it?" she asked her visitor.  
  
Pluto was taken back for a moment, She was always a perceptive one,   
just like Mars. "I am afraid so. I had hoped that I would not need   
to awaken you for another year, but time has changed." With her   
words, she let her glamour fall, revealing the Senshi of Time.   
Bringing her staff up the Garnet Orb pulsed and memories began to   
flood back into Neptune's mind.  
  
With a flick of her wrist, she summoned her transformation wand, and   
then sent the energy of Neptune pulsing through it replacing her   
human body with her true form. "The princess?" questioned Neptune.  
  
"She is reborn as well, along with the rest of her court and her   
love. The time is not yet right for you to be introduced, but it will   
be soon. Take this, it will allow me to contact you." As Pluto handed   
Neptune two communicators, she opened a portal and stepped through.  
  
What why two communicators? wondered a slightly confused Neptune.   
Her thoughts did not get far when she heard her door open. Forgot   
all about Haruka. thought Neptune as she turned around trying to   
figure out how to explain her current dress to her love.   
  
She did not have to have troubled herself. As Haruka spoke even   
before Neptune finished turning around. "You look beautiful as always   
Neptune." The sight of Neptune before her had caused the memories of   
Haruka's past life to flood back. With a grin at the confused   
Neptune, she reached her hand up into the air to summon her   
transformation wand and called down the powers of Uranus. And in the   
next moment, the Sailor Senshi of Neptune and Uranus stood reunited   
and ready to return to their duties. "I guess this means that our   
vacation is over." Uranus spoke with a dry humor in her voice.  
  
"Pluto says not quite yet, my love. But I have a feeling that our   
vacation will only last a little bit longer before the call of duty   
summons us."  
  
*********  
  
The Senshi of time had opened the portal to a forest that lay along   
the outskirts of Tokyo. This was a location that she discovered where   
she could go to avoid distractions and think about her task. It was   
close enough to Tokyo that she could still feel most of the pertitant   
pulls of time, but rarely did she see another soul. The solitude was   
particularly important as during her mental wanderings she liked to   
remain in her true form.  
  
I have done near all I can in preparation now for what is to come. I   
can only hope that it will be enough. The pull of time indicates that   
this battle with Metalia will be far worse than the one from the   
previous time lines. I only wish I could feel what way time wants to   
pull following that upcoming battle. I could reveal the talismans,   
but the princess is not yet ready for the power of the Grail, which   
would be summoned. And, I am afraid that the released power could   
awaken Saturn. Until she is healed and released from her obligation   
as strictly being the destroyer, she cannot be allowed to awaken. If   
she were to awaken, she would bring about the silence as she is   
trained to do.  
  
"And, what of Rubeus. Why does time seem to prefer his continued   
existence? He is guilty for crimes against the queen, and is still   
planning to kill the queen and her daughter. As a warrior from the   
future, I should execute him for his crimes, but as the Guardian of   
Time, I need to let him live, for his continued living will help the   
correct flow of time. Maybe I should have taken Q up on his offer of   
sending that Starfleet crew a dozen Tribbles, instead of just   
plopping them back where they started with a strict warning never to   
do what they did again.  
  
An irate Pluto swung her staff at a tree, breaking the tree into two.   
With her frustration partially released, she decided to pay a visit   
to the moon to seek relaxation. With that, she opened a portal and   
left the forest. A pair of hikers arrived on the scene just in time   
to see the tree fall and mini-skirted clad women open a portal and   
then step through. The two paused, rubbing their eyes before both   
agreed that they should take a break, attributing what they saw to a   
hallucination caused by dehydration.  
  
*********  
The Moon  
  
Arriving on the moon, Pluto took a moment to look around before   
walking slowly over to her target. The moon now was a lifeless   
wasteland, with no hint of the great kingdom that once ruled the   
solar system from her soils. All evidence of the Silver Millennium   
was erased when the Senshi of the Far Reaches of the Solar System   
summoned Saturn. Saturn after seeing the destruction knew what had to   
be done. With a tear in her eyes, she brought her Silence Glaive up,   
which was now sprouting thin translucent ribbons and began her Death   
Reborn Revolution. With a final thrust of the glaive blade into the   
ground, the ribbons exploded out taking all elements of the Silver   
Millennium with them. Neptune and Uranus joined Saturn in death on   
the moon that day. Pluto, with her duty to Time, was forced to watch   
their death and leave without being allowed the purification of a   
rebirth. Instead, she had to return to the Gate of Spacetime where   
she would learn all the grisly details of that final battle.  
  
Lost in her thought as she was, she almost did not realize that she   
had arrived at her destination: the location where Queen Serenity had   
died. Kneeling down in prayer she asked the spirit of her former   
queen to give her guidance and the hope that Crystal Tokyo would   
still come to be. Pluto remained this way for what she thought was a   
couple of hours, but was really two weeks. The spirit of Queen   
Serenity was still anchored to this spot, and she desired to help her   
daughter. She longed to aid her daughter, but the magic that   
protected her daughter's true identity also prevented her from   
reaching out to her daughter. But, she knew that magic was soon to   
break partially, and that was what gave her the strength to do what   
she knew she had to do: to keep Pluto here away from the next set of   
battles to be waged between the Senshi and the Dark Kingdom.  
  
*********  
  
Usagi walked towards her house with her daughter at a slow pace. Both   
of them were beginning to feel the grueling training program that   
Luna, Artemis, and her father had devised. While she still enjoyed   
learning from V-chan and did want to get better so that she could   
better protect her daughter, she was starting to look back at those   
earlier days when her body was not quite so exhausted with envy.   
While the Senshi training was only a couple times a week, he father   
decided that she and her daughter should be enrolled in a martial   
arts program.  
  
The additional martial arts training was his one stipulation for her   
continued fighting, and of course, Luna thought it to be a great   
idea. What resulted was an extensive survey of the various   
instructors in the area by Rei, Ami, Luna, and her father. They had   
finally made their decision and somehow managed to get the two of   
them private lessons together. Today was her first lesson with the   
martial arts instructor. To Usagi about the only thing good that   
happened during the lesson was that the instructor was able to see a   
hidden warrior inside her that just needed to be coaxed out. Of   
course, that meant that he only expected the best from her, and had   
been very demanding in the drills. At least the lesson was over for   
the day, but tomorrow she and ChibiUsa would return for another   
instruction.  
  
Usagi looked down at her daughter while the two walked. ChibiUsa was   
also starting to show the strain of the heavy workout program, but,   
she also appeared to be enjoying herself at the same time, which was   
good. As the two passed an ice cream shop, Usagi was tempted to stop   
and get some to eat for the two of them. But, with a slight sigh, she   
decided that since they were to eat upon arriving home, that she   
should avoid the treat for now.   
  
ChibiUsa noticed Usagi's attention diversion by the ice cream parlor,   
and had expected Usagi to stop instead to get some to eat.   
Consequently, she was quite surprised when Usagi only sighed briefly   
before continuing on home. ChibiUsa was still having trouble   
adjusting to this more mature version of her mother's younger self.   
She kept expecting Usagi to revert to her old habits. Pu you should   
have told me who my mother was the first time I came back. Everything   
is so much better for both of us with us, with me getting off on the   
right foot with her. I should never had deceived her the first time.  
  
Usagi for her part had let her thoughts drift back to the school day   
itself. A new student had transferred into the school a couple of   
days ago. Like Ami, he was an apparent genius nailing every exam.   
Usagi's eye had noticed the way that he watched Ami every time that   
she was around. Ami as well seemed to give him a slightly longer look   
than others in the school. This was enough for Usagi's matchmaking   
instinct to kick in. So she was know trying to figure out how to get   
Ryo and Ami together.  
  
So involved in her matchmaking scheming, Usagi did not notice the   
shape that stepped out from a building. ChibiUsa might have been able   
to shout a warning, but she to was too caught up in thinking about   
her mother's past self and did not even notice Usagi missing for a   
few moments. When she turned around to figure out what had happened   
to Usagi, she found her mother's and father's past selves in a heap   
in the middle of the sidewalk. With a giggle, she walked back towards   
the two of them.  
  
Mamoru should have been able to dodge a sedately walking Usagi.   
However, he too had been caught up in deep thought. His thoughts   
concerned the recent dreams that he had been having and the nagging   
feeling that he had a major piece of the puzzle but just could not   
remember it.  
  
For both Usagi and Mamoru it took them a few moments after hitting   
the ground to realize that they were no longer walking towards their   
destinations. It took them another moment to realize that they were   
on the ground and must have collided with someone. Already guessing   
the answer, both looked and the normal exchange of apologies from   
Usagi and taunts and suggestions to look where she was going came   
from Mamoru.   
  
With a huff, Usagi got up, dusted herself off and walked over to   
where her daughter was suffering from another spat of giggles. Taking   
the young child's hand the two began to walk off. ChibiUsa's good   
humor quickly warmed Usagi's heart and she forgot about the incident.   
She was glad to see that the pink haired child was in better spirits   
these days.  
  
Mamoru watched the two Odango-atamas walk off. The child that now   
seemed to be always present around Usagi seemed familiar to him   
somehow. With that thought, he realized that lately he had been   
having many of these deja-vu feelings. Watching them disappear around   
a corner, another question about that child crossed his mind. Why   
does she always look like she knows something that we don't. Half the   
time it appears she is laughing at Usagi and me as if she knows   
something that we don't. Shaking his head in an attempt to clear it   
he began his walk back home.  
  
*********  
  
"Zoisite is the trap ready?" questioned Kunzite.  
  
"Yes, hopefully that amplification device that you rigged will draw   
the Moon Princess to the Nijizuishou carrier. I have placed to Youma   
in the east end of the district, opposite of where that cat carrier   
of a Nijizuishou Crystal is leashed."  
  
"Good, go await the other Senshi and release the first of the two   
Youma in ten minutes."  
  
Acknowledging Kunzite's command, Zoisite teleported away, to await   
the arrival of the other four Senshi. While they felt that they   
probably could get the Moon Princess away from the Senshi of Mars,   
Mercury, Venus, and Jupiter neither felt that they would have any   
chance in separating her from the Senshi of the Moon. They had   
postulated that the Senshi of the Moon was likely the personal   
protector of the princess, to always be present around her. Though   
too bad for her, that the magic that choose her protector could not   
have chosen one with fighting skills on par with the rest of the   
Senshi.  
  
With Zoisite's departure, Kunzite activated the amplification   
crystal. The cat in question lay in the middle of the small park they   
were in, tied to a tree (he had acquired it earlier in the day).   
Deciding the trap was ready, he moved into the bushes. To minimize   
the chance that the other Senshi would show up, he would initially   
let the Moon Princess have this crystal.  
  
*********  
The Tsukino household  
  
Dinner for the family had recently finished. Now, the two Usagis were   
busy clearing the table and cleaning up. Shingo was the first to   
notice the beeping of Usagi's Crescent Moon Wand.  
  
"Uh. Usagi your Wand thingy is beeping." Shingo said nervously. Of   
all the members of the household, he probably was having the most   
trouble adjusting to Usagi's identity as Sailor Moon. In much the   
same way that Usagi idolized Sailor V, he idolized Sailor Moon, or at   
least till he found out the truth. He had become a devote fan of   
Sailor Moon, ever since that day she had rescued him. And, like any   
boy he had had fantasies about her, though with his age they were   
still limited to just holding hands and maybe a kiss or two. But,   
finding out that his idol was really his sister had turned his world   
upside down.  
  
"Thanks Shingo." Replied Usagi as she quickly left the kitchen to go   
to the living room where she had left her bag. Sure enough, her wand   
was beeping. While it had not done that before, she instinctively   
knew that it meant that it had detected one of the Nijizuishou   
crystals nearby. With ChibiUsa in tow, she left the house after   
giving a quick Sailor Business explanation to her mother.   
  
Maybe this time we will be able to get a Nijizuishou crystal without   
having to face that Dark Kingdom general thought Sailor Moon as she   
ran following the leading of her wand. As the two reached the park,   
they noticed a cat tied to a tree, apparently to keep it from running   
away while its owner did something else. This must be the crystal   
carrier then activating her communicator "Minna me and ChibiMoon   
have found one of the Nijizuishou carriers, and there appears to be   
no sight of the Dark Kingdom yet."  
  
*********  
  
Makoto closed her connection and continued walking home. Looks like   
we lucked out on this one. Unfortunately, as she turned the corner,   
she discovered what the Dark Kingdom was keeping itself busy with.   
There in the center of the street was a youma, which was creating an   
enormous mess of the neighborhood. Reopening her connection, "Minna   
there is a youma a block from my apartment."  
  
"Everyone expect for Moon and ChibiMoon head over to contain that   
creature. Sailor Moon after you have gathered that crystal join us."   
Came Venus's voice over the link, followed by a chorus of "Hai."   
  
Ducking into an alcove, Makoto called upon the power of Jupiter   
before stepping out to confront the youma. "Streets are for quick   
movement of vehicles, not playgrounds for the like of you. In the   
name of Jupiter I will punish you." As Jupiter finished her speech,   
she unleashed a thunder blast at the creature.  
  
While Jupiter was one of the strongest Senshi, even she could not go   
toe to toe with a youma for long. However, as she began to tire   
relief came in the form of the three other Senshi. The four Senshi   
were quickly able to begin to contain the demon. Unfortunately, with   
the arrival of the other three, Zoisite decided it was time to   
release the other Youma.  
  
A blast caught the Senshi from behind, sending Venus and Jupiter   
flying. Turning around Mars saw the cause of their trouble. "Give me   
a break, not another one of those demons."  
  
Mercury called forth her Shabon Spray giving the Senshi time to   
regroup and attempt to come up with a plan on how to deal with not   
one but two demons. Their original plan was to contain the one until   
Sailor Moon could arrive, but they would not be able to contain two   
demons at the same time. This was the first time the Dark Kingdom had   
attacked with two youma at the same time, and it had truly caught the   
Senshi off guard.   
  
"Kami-sama no!" exclaimed Mars, at the questioning looks of the other   
Senshi. "These demons are decoys, to keep us busy while they take out   
Sailor Moon and ChibiMoon." The other three and two cats realized the   
truth in the statement, but they also knew they could not leave these   
two youma running free here. Usagi would never forgive them for   
putting her life above the rest of the city. Their only hope was to   
quickly destroy these creatures and go help Moon. Unfortunately their   
cover had run out and a blast from both demons sent them sprawling   
across the street. A figure cloaked in white prepared to aid the   
fallen Senshi.  
  
*********  
  
"Moon Healing Escalation" called out Sailor Moon as she swung her   
wand. The energy from the spell impacted the cat and released the   
Nijizuishou Crystal while destroying the soul of the Shadow Warrior   
at the same time.  
  
As Sailor Moon moved to collect the crystal, she noticed an energy   
barrage flying towards ChibiMoon from the corner of her eye. Without   
hesitation, she threw herself in the path of the energy bolt.   
ChibiMoon herself wondered why Sailor Moon had just jumped, but the   
screams of agony that suddenly came from her mother answered the   
question. Forgetting about the crystal, she ran to her mother and   
threw her arms around her.  
  
Zoisite teleported in, grabbed the crystal, and prepared to attack as   
well. "Now you die princess."  
  
With a quick motion, Tuxedo-Kamen stood between Zoisite and the two   
girls. However, he became out numbered when Kunzite stepped out from   
the bushes, where he had let go his initial blast. Tuxedo-Kamen   
attempted to adjust his position, but knew that unless the other   
Senshi showed up soon, he and the two Moons would soon be dead.  
  
*********  
  
Two lovers walked aimlessly through the city, both lost in thoughts   
on what the future held. They both held fragmented memories of their   
past, and both desired to see their princess alive and well again.   
However, Pluto had told them that now was not yet the time to make   
themselves known. Michiru concluded that Pluto must want to keep them   
as an ace in the hole against the enemy.  
  
While Michiru was content to wait until Pluto thought it best for   
them to become involved, Haruka wanted to join the battle now. Like   
Jupiter, she had a warrior spirit that did not like sitting on the   
sidelines waiting the appropriate time to join the battle.   
Additionally she wanted to try out her powers, which had not been   
used for a thousand years.  
  
Turning into a park they saw a Sailor Soldier laying on the ground   
with a pint sized one crying over her and some wacko dressed in a   
tuxedo trying to protect the two. Advancing on that trio were two   
men, obviously, the enemy that they were awaken to fight. "We better   
do something or they are not going to survive." declared Haruka.   
  
With a nod from Michiru the two henshin into their Sailor forms.   
Moving around the battlefield, they came upon the enemy from the rear   
and released their attacks from the shadows. Without warning Kunzite   
was hit with a Deep Submerge while Zoisite got a World Shaking.  
  
The two attacks knocked the generals down, allowing Tuxedo-Kamen to   
grab Sailor Moon and bound out of the area. ChibiMoon followed him up   
on top of one of the buildings. "Take good care of her, I will be by   
later" stated ChibiMoon as she bounded off the building towards where   
the other Senshi were located.  
  
Her departure left one slightly confused Tuxedo-Kamen. Putting his   
thoughts behind himself, he began the trip back towards his   
apartment, with the unconscious Sailor Moon in his arms. He wondered   
what had taken out those two Dark Kingdom Generals. He did not see   
anything more than a silhouette of what might have been two Sailor   
Senshi, but he was not sure.  
  
*********  
Back in the park  
  
A very annoyed Kunzite and Zoisite picked themselves up from where   
they had been thrown by the blasts.  
  
"Great not only do we get blasted by someone, but the princess got   
away unharmed. That blasted Sailor Moon threw herself in the way of   
by blast at the last moment." Complained Kunzite.  
  
Holding out the Nijizuishou crystal Zoisite replied "Well at least we   
did manage to prevent them from getting one of the Nijizuishou   
crystals this time. That should at least partially appease Beryl. And   
you did severely hurt Sailor Moon. But I want to know who blasted us   
from behind."  
  
And with that, the two Dark Kingdom Generals teleported back to their   
base to face their queen.  
  
*********  
On the other side of Tokyo  
  
The battle for the Sailor Senshi was not going very well at all. They   
were slowly losing the battle, without the ability to eliminate   
either of the two creatures they were forced into a war of attrition.   
Deciding that he had to act now, the final observer released a   
barrage of Dark Energy spheres at the two youma.  
  
The Senshi and the two cats looked back towards him to discover the   
source of their savor. That outfit kind of looks like one an   
imperial guard of the Moon Kingdom might wear. thought Luna.  
  
"Senshi pool your powers, I know you have the ability to destroy   
these pathetic creatures." And with that, he released another blast   
of energy to knock the now recovering youma back down before   
departing.  
  
"What does he think we have been doing?" complained an irate Mars.   
She had a bad feeling that something had happened to Usagi and every   
moment that she was detained by these demons made her even more   
irate.  
  
"The Sailor Planet Attack." Artemis announced as he suddenly realized   
what the stranger was referring to.  
  
His announcement was first met with further confusion from the   
Senshi, but then understanding as the knowledge came to their minds.   
With knowledge on how to defeat these creatures, they created a   
circle and began to summon all their powers together before   
unleashing a blinding burst of energy. The weakened youma were   
quickly annihilated by the blast, leaving a couple of piles of moon   
dust.  
  
With the final blast, ChibiMoon arrived on the scene. "ChibiMoon   
where is the Sailor Moon?" questioned Mercury  
  
"She got hit protecting me from a surprise attack. She is hurt badly,   
but Tuxedo-Kamen is taking care of her."  
  
"How could you let him take her, we don't know anything about him."   
Complained a worried Luna.  
  
"Don't worry Luna she is fine with him." With a wink, she leapt clear   
and headed off to her next destination.  
  
Luna made to go after the quickly disappearing child. But was   
restrained by a foot of Mercury which had found her tail. Instead,   
she gave a screech of pain and turned to look at Mercury. "Now why   
did you just do that." She asked dangerously.  
  
"Luna trust her. Remember she knows things that we don't. I have a   
feeling that she hasn't told us all that she knows about this tuxedo-  
Kamen." Answered Mercury.   
  
Luna gave in as she looked around and noticed that the other Senshi   
also seemed to agree with Mercury. As she walked back to the Tsukino   
residence on her own she did mutter under her breath that she did not   
have to like the situation.  
  
*********  
Mamoru's apartment  
  
Upon arriving back at his apartment, Tuxedo-Kamen laid the still   
unconscious Sailor Moon down on his bed. He then walked into his   
living room while thinking about how best to treat her injuries. She   
was badly beaten up, with large burns covering most of her skin, and   
her uniform burned away in many places. But, he also for some reason   
knew that she was okay, and would be better soon.  
  
Standing in his living room, he released his powers. With the   
confusion, that normally accompanied his return to his normal self   
Mamoru looked down and noticed he was holding a crescent shaped wand.   
He wondered where he had obtained it, and then suddenly the blocks   
that kept his Tuxedo-Kamen and Chiba Mamoru memories separate   
shattered and he remembered the recent battle. With the collapsed of   
the barrier some of the confusion over the dreams he had been having   
left, though he still did not know who that girl in them was.  
  
Getting a first aid kit, some towels, and a bucket of warm water he   
began to treat Sailor Moon's injuries. As he treated her, he felt a   
connection with her, something that sparked the reason why he always   
seemed to know when she was in trouble. He wondered who this angel   
was outside of her Senshi form.  
  
A ringing of his bell interrupted his musings. Hopefully that is not   
Motoki, if it is him I don't know how I will get rid of him.   
however, to his relief when he opened the door it was not Motoki, but   
instead the pink haired miniature Odango-Atama. What's she doing   
here?  
  
"Mamo-chan how is Usagi?" asked the child as she quickly pushed past   
him and made a beeline towards the bedroom.  
  
A confused Mamoru closed the door to his apartment and moved to   
intercept the child. However, she beat him to the bedroom door.   
Thankfully, he had mostly finished his work on dressing up Sailor   
Moon's wounds. "Oh Onee-san you are okay." Cried the child as she ran   
forward and hugged the unconscious Sailor Moon.   
  
His subconscious was able to put two and two together; however   
telling this discovery to his conscious mind was another story.   
Instead, Mamoru stood with his mouth hanging open as he watched the   
child grasp Sailor Moon. Then after a moment, he was thrown for   
another loop as the child stood back and placed her hands on Sailor   
Moon's chest. A soft pink glow came from the child's hands, then   
Sailor Moon's outfit became ribbons, and then lying there on the bed   
before him was Tsukino Usagi. As his conscious self came to the same   
conclusion that his unconscious self already came to he passed out.  
  
However, for him the impact of his head hitting the ground was enough   
to bring him out of it. "Odango-Atama is Sailor Moon?" he exclaimed   
incredulously. But, he knew inside himself that was the truth.  
  
"She is also the princess that has been in your dreams." Announced   
ChibiUsa. "I will be by in the morning with her stuff for school. Ja   
ne." And with that, ChibiUsa let herself out of the apartment.  
  
Mamoru remained on the ground for the next fifteen minutes trying to   
puzzle out the conflicting emotions that were running through him. He   
realized that he felt something for that klutzy scholastic   
underachiever. Deciding he had enough for one day, he finished his   
treatment of Usagi and then tucked her in, before lying down to sleep   
on the couch.  
  
*********  
  
Ikuko looked up when she heard the front door open and closed.   
Concern crossed her features when she noticed ChibiUsa come in alone.   
Though her expression is a little too upbeat for anything bad to   
have happened to Usagi. "ChibiUsa where is Usagi?"  
  
"She was hurt badly during the fight and is spending the night at   
Mamo-chan's."  
  
"She is with a boy, spending the night!?!" came Kenji's very irate   
response "Young lady tell me where he lives."  
  
"No" stated ChibiUsa while backing away from Kenji  
  
Luna and Kenji began to stalk towards ChibiUsa while commanding her   
to tell them where Usagi was. Ikuko moved next to ChibiUsa and picked   
her up. "You don't have to tell them where she is."  
  
"Nani?!?" shouted Luna and Kenji. Both lost as to why Ikuko was   
taking ChibiUsa's side.  
  
"He is your father isn't he." Questioned Ikuko. She had watched   
ChibiUsa's facial expression the whole time and her mothering   
instincts gave her the untold truth. That is why she was so happy   
when she walked in, even though Usagi apparently got beat up pretty   
badly during the battle.  
  
"Hai, he is. But you cannot tell either of those two that he is my   
father."  
  
The simple question and answer deflated the advance of Luna and Kenji   
and the two sunk down to the ground. Confusion once again swarmed   
through the mind of Kenji. He still wanted to keep his innocent   
daughter away from guys. But, she was a Sailor Senshi and could look   
after herself. Moreover, she was now with the one who would be the   
father of this child who stood in front of him. "At least they won't   
be having children till the 30th centaury." He stated, that being the   
only thing he could find comfort in.  
  
However, his comfort soon vanished as he noticed ChibiUsa give a   
nervous laugh, turn her head to the ground and drag her foot around.   
He had enough experience with his two kids to know what that meant.   
"ChibiUsa what are you not telling us." he asked.  
  
"Well you see, I am kinda of, well I am over 900 years old." She   
finally blurted out.  
  
"Nani!" came the expected response from the two adults.   
  
Luna herself had been half expecting something like this. She had on   
previous occasions thought long and hard about this future daughter   
of her princess, and what effects being half human would have on her.   
Her biggest question was why the child did not have a crescent moon   
on her forehead, unlike Usagi she was not currently cloaked in any   
glamour magic. "It is a result of you being half human and half   
Lunarian, isn't it?"  
  
A shy look came over ChibiUsa as she nodded her head. "I just   
suddenly stopped growing one day and remained five years old for   
almost 900 years. People were saying that I was not a real princess   
of the moon, because I could not use any of the powers, and I did not   
have the crescent moon on my forehead." The child was now in tears as   
she began recalling the events that lead up to her role in the Dark   
Moon crisis. "I took the Ginzuishou and tried to make myself a lady   
like mother, but it vanished and then the war came." At this point,   
her story started to break down as she was wracked with tears. Ikuko   
wrapped the child up in a hug, trying to comfort her. She silently   
wished that Usagi was here, Usagi was much better at easing the tears   
of this child.  
  
After a bit, ChibiUsa continued with what Princess Mercury had told   
her shortly after her return about a year ago. This was when Mercury   
had confirmed that Small Lady was indeed growing once again. She had   
wondered why she had stopped growing for a long period. Her questions   
eventually led Mercury to tell her that normally a Lunarian could not   
have a child with a human; their DNA what ever that was was just   
too different from a regular humans. But the Ginzuishou allowed small   
lady to be born.  
  
"What is this Ginzuishou?" asked Kenji, now at least partially   
relieved in knowing that he should have some warning before his   
daughter became pregnant, after the shock of learning that the child   
in front of them was over 900 years old.  
  
"It is a very power magical artifact, which can only be safely   
handled by those of the royal blood of the moon. For some reason   
after Queen Serenity used it a thousand years ago it shattered into,   
I believe seven fragments, of which we are attempting to collect   
now." replied Luna  
  
*********  
  
Later after ChibiUsa headed up to bed, the two adults and one cat   
discussed again, what they had learned from ChibiUsa. While Kenji   
wanted to confront this new boyfriend right away and find out all   
about him. Ikuko reminded him that they had to let the romance   
between the two develop first, for ChibiUsa's sake. They had to be   
careful to avoid poisoning the budding relationship. They decided to   
pretend to be clueless parents for the time being, while Luna agreed   
to keep a close eye on Usagi and inform them of developments with her   
boyfriend.  
  
End Chapter 7  
  
Author's notes:  
Sorry about taking so long in getting this chapter and the last   
one out. But between going home for a few days and getting   
sick, I had trouble getting these two parts out. Also, this   
chapter was difficult to write. While I knew the general gist   
of what I wanted to happen (much more than in many of the other   
chapters) it was difficult to correctly write it so that it   
came off.  
  
I am taking a deviation here from the Anime, in that Rei is not   
involved with Mamoru. For those wondering what about the   
Tribbles reference. It refers to a great original Star Trek   
episode: "Trouble with Tribbles" In a nutshell Tribbles are   
extremely kawaii creatures, which eat and reproduce faster than   
rabbits. There is even one point where Dr. McCoy speculates   
that they must be born pregnant to save themselves time in   
reproducing. Suffice to say they are a real hindrance to ship   
operations, but are just too kawaii to kill.  
  
Well next time we will find out what Usagi thinks about waking   
up in Mamoru-san's apartment.  



	8. War Zone

The Fragility of Time  
Chapter 8: "War Zone"  
Author: etj4Eagle  
Email: etj4Eagle@yahoo.com  
http://www.geocities.com/etj4eagle  
Lasted Edited: 8/31/00  
  
Disclaimer: A reminder I own none of the characters of this story,   
all rights are owned by others.   
If you distribute the story, do only   
so freely and inform me of where you post it.  
  
_______________________________________  
  
Usagi awoke in the morning to someone whispering her name in her ear.   
The first thing she became aware of was the smell of roses and the   
feeling that something was out of place. Brushing aside her normal   
desire to return to sleep, she partook in her curiosity and opened   
her eyes. The room that she saw was unfamiliar, and then turning her   
head she noticed Tuxedo-Kamen standing next to her. "Huh?" was all   
her still asleep brain could think of saying.  
  
"I brought you back here after the battle. That was a courageous   
thing you did Usagi, throwing yourself in the way of that blast to   
protect your cousin. She came by last night and released your   
transformation." While he told her this, he stroked her hair,   
comforting her. Taking a deep breath, he prepared himself for what   
was to come next. "Now that I know who you are, it is only fair that   
you should know who I am my sweet." And with that, he released his   
powers.  
  
Usagi was left speechless as Tuxedo-Kamen was revealed to be the bane   
of her life: Chiba Mamoru. Mamoru had been expecting her to yell at   
him, but instead she was locked in place as she tried to comprehend   
what had just happened.  
  
Trying to ease her confusion he placed a couple of light kisses on   
her forehead before suggesting that she wash up while he prepared   
some breakfast for the two of them. Confused, Usagi made her way to   
the bathroom and began running the water. While undressing, she   
noticed the number of bruises and burns that she had from the   
previous night. She also realized that a shower probably would not be   
the best thing with the bandaged burns. So instead, she filled the   
tub with some water so that she could take a sponge bath. While the   
injuries hurt her a lot, all that she could think about was that this   
time she had not failed her daughter.  
  
During her washing, she mused about her feelings toward Mamoru and   
Tuxedo-Kamen. Surprisingly even to her, she did not care about the   
way Mamoru had treated her in the past. She realized that she was   
beginning to have feelings towards Mamoru himself and not just the   
crush that she had on Tuxedo-Kamen.  
  
As she entered the kitchen, Mamoru came up behind her placing an arm   
around her and proceeded to walk her to the table. During the meal,   
the two talked about other things, and Usagi found herself really   
beginning to like this guy. And Mamoru found himself opening up in a   
way that he had never before. The only other person he was open with   
was Motoki and he found himself telling this young teenager in his   
apartment things that he did not even tell his best friend.  
  
As their meal was coming to a finish, a knock came at the door.   
Opening it, revealed the visitor to be ChibiUsa. She had brought with   
her Usagi's book bag and a change of clothes. Mamoru wondered for a   
moment how the child had managed to carry all that here by herself.   
But, then out the corner of his eye as he was letting the child in he   
noticed a blue haired girl who looked a lot like one of Usagi's   
friends get into an elevator.  
  
As Usagi prepared herself for school, he got himself ready to go to   
class as well. He did not feel right letting her out of his sight   
just yet in her condition. "Usagi-chan mind if I walk you to school   
this morning?" he asked.  
  
As Usagi gave her accent, she noticed a smile spread across the face   
of ChibiUsa. What is she happy about? Mamo-chan is only walking me   
to class. Wait what if Mamo-chan is? That's why she's smiling.   
having figured out ChibiUsa's motives she gave the pink haired girl a   
wink.  
  
The wink from Usagi caught the child off guard. How did she figure   
out that Mamo-chan is my father? The double take that ChibiUsa did   
before moving to follow them gave Usagi all the conformation that she   
needed, that Mamo-chan was the future father of her daughter.  
  
*********  
Juuban Junior High School  
  
Makoto arrived at school to find Ami waiting outside reading a book.   
Walking over she sat down with Ami. "I hope Usagi is okay."  
  
"According to ChibiUsa-chan she is fine, just a little banged up. I   
took her to Tuxedo-kamen's apartment this morning with stuff for   
Usagi. Hey there she is now."  
  
Makoto looked to where Ami was pointing and did a double take when   
she saw Usagi walking with Mamoru. "Is that Mamoru-san with her?"   
asked Makoto.  
  
Naru had joined the two and was also gaping at Usagi walking with   
Mamoru's arm around her. "I thought those two hated each other. The   
last time I saw those two together ChibiUsa-chan kicked Mamoru-san   
hard in his shin for the way he was treating Usagi-chan."  
  
Ami put two and two together realizing that Mamoru must be Tuxedo-  
kamen, but she could not voice her conclusion to Makoto with Naru   
present. Nevertheless, even with that conclusion she still could not   
believe what her eyes were showing her. Moreover, the disbelief got   
worse for the three when Mamoru left Usagi at the gate with a kiss on   
her forehead.  
  
As Usagi approached her three friends, they could only sputter in   
their attempts to get their questions answered. However, Usagi was   
saved from needing to answer any questions by the ringing of the   
bell. As the four moved inside, a budding relationship between Usagi   
and Mamoru was further confirmed by her dreamily saying "Mamo-chan."  
  
*********  
  
The three perplexed students somehow managed to make it through the   
morning. However, each of them, including Ami was yelled at by   
Haruna-sensei for not paying attention. Haruna-sensei herself thought   
the world must be coming to an end with Usagi having arrived on time,   
paying attention, and it being Ami-chan who she had to remind to pay   
attention. Heck Usagi did not even try to scarf down any of her lunch   
during the morning either.   
  
As class let out for lunch the three girls decided to corner Usagi   
and get the dirt from her. However, Haruna-sensei wanted a word with   
the three of them before allowing them out to eat lunch. Their delay   
allowed Usagi enough time to begin to put her plan into operation.   
Moving up to Ryo as he left the room, she began to talk with him.   
  
*********  
Elsewhere in the City  
  
Rubeus looked at the drawing that he held in his hand. With the   
destruction of his ship, he had lost all visual records of the   
rabbit, but now he held in his hand a crude, but reasonable pencil   
drawing of the rabbit. In front of him lay the unfortunate sketch   
artist who had drawn this sketch. It is nice how my job and the   
mission sometimes work together in concert. I would have not thought   
about getting a sketch artist to draw the rabbit if I had not been   
assigned to kill this the person and two others. Rubeus made his way   
out of the alley where he had eliminated the last of three   
individuals who could identify one of the higher ups in the   
organization.  
  
That day the sun was shining brightly, matching his mood. It was time   
for him to ask one more meager favor for his service to the   
organization. Walking into a nearby library, he went to the copy   
machines and made a half dozen copies of the sketch he held. Now he   
would be able to find the rabbit. In addition, he was sure that from   
his observations of her he would find her mother, Neo-Queen Serenity.  
  
Whistling to himself, he continued down into a park. Arriving in the   
park, he sat down on one of the benches and thought about his   
mission. Surprisingly this had become a common occurrence for him,   
heading to the park at least once or twice a week. Pulling out the   
dark crystal fragment that was all that was left from the glorious   
Dark Moon Revolution, he noticed something different about it this   
time. Unlike before, there was a definite magical hum to the crystal.   
Of course, the activities that I have been involved in have   
obviously been feeding the crystal energy.  
  
While the crystal did not have enough energy to be of any use now, it   
was well along its way to recharging. And, with it fully powered   
again, he would be able control the droids that he had retrieved.   
Additionally his own magic would be dramatically amplified. He had no   
illusions about being able to take out Serenity without the crystal   
fully charged. The Ginzuishou, used properly would instantly flatten   
him.  
  
Lost as he was in his own thoughts he at first did not notice the   
screams erupting from the park. However, when a blast took out a   
section of ground near him and sent him flying he finally noticed the   
demon attack. Looking up he saw three droids methodically taking down   
everything they could lay eyes on in the park. He had been spared   
only a glancing blow, because of his blood relation to the Dark Moon   
Family.  
  
What? Three droids attacking in concert that should not be   
possible. Looking closer he found the answer in the magic linking   
the droids. A control droid is in the area? How did one of those get   
here? Apparently during the loading of his ship, an incorrect droid   
box was loaded. His original mission was to travel back in time to   
grab the rabbit, the Ginzuishou, and to capture crystal points. The   
capturing of crystal points was to be carried out by energy gathering   
droids, as those would function the best in the past. In addition to   
the energy gathering droid, there were two other types of droids: a   
control droid and a warrior droid. The warrior droids were just that   
warriors, but without a magical link to an energy source, they would   
quickly perish. In the future, they were tied to the Dark Crystal,   
giving them near limitless power. Control Droids were used to give   
tactics to other Droids and to manage the flow of energy. With a   
Control Droid, a droid force could be become an independent fighting   
unit, which is why they had been able to ransack the earth right up   
to the shield surrounding the crystal palace.  
  
As Rubeus studied the energy link lines, he realized what had   
happened. A control droid had managed to link itself with the three   
warrior droids and at least four energy droids upon its activation.   
It must have placed all units in a stealth mode, allowing the energy   
levels to build up. Now that it had a sufficient energy reserve, it   
activated its warrior droids to destroy Crystal Tokyo. The only thing   
that Rubeus could think of was a string of superlatives in many   
languages as he realized the Sailor Senshi were nowhere ready to face   
this threat. Moreover, with the ship destroyed he might not be able   
to take control of the Control Droid.  
  
*********  
  
Cruising down the road Haruka and Michiru were enjoying what they   
believed would be one of their final days before they were to return   
to service of their princess. A large tree suddenly landing in the   
road gave Haruka a good test of her driving skills as she swung the   
car around to dodge the tree and then the rest of the forest that   
followed it.  
  
"What the Heck?" exclaimed Haruka.  
  
A large explosion grabbed the attention of the two women and they saw   
three droids tearing up the park. "Want to bet that those things are   
responsible for almost destroying my car." Haruka said angrily while   
pulling out her wand.  
  
Michiru repeated the same motion and soon the two Senshi were running   
towards the battlefield. Arriving on the scene the two had to gasp as   
they saw the extent of the devastation. They had thought it bad, from   
the amount of forestry thrown into the road, but nothing prepared   
them for what they saw. Half the park and a city block lay in utter   
ruins and on the ground lay dozens of humans fully drained of energy.   
Giving a jump, the two leapt clear of a blast that came their way   
from the three droids.  
  
"Well at least they are no longer tearing up Tokyo." Voiced Neptune,   
as the two Senshi continued leaping for safety while trying to find   
an opportunity to return fire.  
  
*********  
  
On the sidelines, Rubeus tried to communicate with the Control Droid,   
but to no avail. The only option left to him was a direct assault on   
the warrior droids themselves, which he realized would eliminate any   
chance for him to take control of them. As, he would now be branded a   
threat and would be attacked.   
  
Nevertheless, there were no other options open to him and so he   
released a blast of dark energy at the nearest Warrior Droid. The two   
Sailor Senshi already present did not question where their break just   
came from, but proceeded to fire their on salvos at the Droids.   
Getting a closer look at the two Senshi already on scene, he realized   
that he had never before scene these two before. Great, just great.   
Now when it is time for me to carry out my mission I will have to   
deal with these two as well, and to top it off they appear to be more   
powerful than the princess and her guardians.  
  
*********  
Juuban Junior High School  
  
Usagi was putting the final touches of her plan to hookup Ami up with   
Ryo, when Naru came running up to her. School had been ended twenty   
minutes earlier in the day, but for some reason the school,   
administrators were not letting anyone out of school.  
  
"Usagi-chan did you hear, there is a monster attack in the park. That   
is why they are holding us here. They have almost destroyed the park   
and the Sailor Senshi are loosing the battle." Naru got out between   
gasps for air.   
  
Usagi and Ami's head immediately picked up with the mention of a   
monster attack. Venus and Mars must already be there, I need to find   
a way to slip away. thought Usagi.  
  
Usagi made an excuse to get away from Naru and went to fetch Makoto.  
  
Ami herself talked with Naru in an attempt to get as much information   
as possible about the battle that they were about to face. She did   
not like what she heard. Ryo called to her allowing her to get away   
from Naru, though as she walked over to him she wondered how she   
would be able to get away from him.  
  
"Ami-san, I know you need to go. Just let me say this, be careful   
this will be a tough one." And then he gave her a quick kiss on the   
cheek and disappeared around the corner. Ami was left blushing   
heavily and utterly confused. Normally she would have been pondering   
his comment, but instead her brain could not get past the notion that   
he had just kissed her and that her heart was now jumping for joy.   
  
It was not until her communicator beeped that she came back to her   
senses. Looking down at the device, she suddenly remembered what she   
needed to do and ran out the building while opening the channel. As   
she ran across the building tops, she muttered her excuses to the   
others over the cannel, while Mars complained about her pulling a   
Usagi.  
  
The six Sailor Senshi met up with each other just a few blocks away   
from the source of the trouble. Leaping across another couple of   
buildings, they came to a complete stop as the extent of the   
devastation became apparent. ChibiMoon moved closer to Sailor Moon,   
for her this looked too much like the destruction that the Dark Moon   
had wrecked on her home.  
  
Standing on the final surviving building before the battleground,   
five of the Senshi watched two Senshi and another magic user battle   
the three demons. Mercury had convinced them to hold off joining the   
battle while she scanned the area to determine the best battle plan.   
What her scanner showed her did not make her happy in the least bit.   
The equipment displayed power levels that made even the generals they   
had fought look like wimps, and her eye recognized that the three   
demons were using combat tactics against their opponents. The only   
thing good that came across was the level of power shown in the   
attacks by their apparent allies as well.  
  
"Minna, we can only defeat these creatures with a Planet Attack. Our   
powers will only be a distraction at best to them." Stated Mercury.   
And then turning to ChibiMoon "ChibiMoon, you can not help us at all   
here, it would be best if you went home. Gonmen."  
  
ChibiMoon began to protest, but was cut off by Usagi. "Muzume if what   
Mercury says is true you cannot help us, and I cannot bear to see you   
face unnecessary danger."  
  
ChibiMoon was going to protest further, but a look into Sailor Moon's   
eyes silenced those words. "Hai, okaa-san" And with that she leapt   
off the building and began heading home.  
  
"Mercury if we launch a planet attack now, would we be able to   
destroy one of those creatures?" asked Venus formulating a plan.  
  
"Yes, and since they do not know that we are here, we should have   
enough time to power it up." Looking at her computer, Mercury   
selected a target "I suggest taking out the one in the middle."  
  
And, with that the five Senshi formed a circle and began powering up   
the planet attack.  
  
*********  
The battleground  
  
Uranus cursed as she was again thrown into the ground by the demons.   
"What is it with these things, why won't they die." She complained to   
no one in particular.  
  
Rubeus watched as Neptune released another attack and then helped   
Uranus up. He knew that they were losing this battle. They had been   
unable to take out even one of the droids, and they were being worn-  
out. The problem was not so much the lack of power in their attacks,   
but that they spent most of time dodging and not attacking. Rubeus   
flung another set of dark energy spheres and teleported again out of   
the way of a droid blast.  
  
Well I guess this is the end of the earth. If we fail to destroy   
these droids, Serenity will die before she kills Metalia, and that   
demon will drain the earth of all its energy. But, then his vision   
was temporarily blinded as a large column of energy slammed into the   
ground where one of the droids stood. When his vision cleared all   
that remained was a pile of dust. Then he heard the words that he   
never thought he would be glad to here.  
  
"How dare you destroy the peace and harmony of this park. I am Sailor   
Moon, and in the name of the Moon I will punish you." The two   
remaining droids even before she began her speech had been in the   
process of targeting the newcomers and returning fire. The first   
blast hit the building just as she finished her speech, but the team   
had enough time to leap off and land in the park. With the arrival of   
the remaining five Senshi, the melee began for real this time.  
  
*********  
Tsukino Household  
  
Ikuko stood in her living room watching the television. The station   
like all others was currently showing live coverage from the battle   
between the Senshi and the three demons. Until now, there was no   
evidence for the existence of the Senshi except for some eyewitness   
reports and the minor war zones that they left behind. But, now for   
the first time, a battle involving the Senshi was being captured on   
tape.  
  
Ikuko worriedly watched the television, thinking about her daughter   
who was out there fighting those creatures.  
  
". and to recap what is happening. The previously thought mythical   
Sailor Senshi are currently engaged in a battle with three creatures.   
We do not know what kind of weapons the two sides are using, only   
that they do substantial damage to the area. Unfortunately our   
military analysts are saying that the tide of the battle appears to   
be going against the Senshi."  
  
The reporters voiced suddenly perked up a little bit. "This just in.   
We have just received word that the government has authorized   
military action to stabilize the situation.."  
  
The scene on the television changed a live feed from a nearby   
military base showing a flight of four helicopters lifting off.   
Following their departure, the station's military strategist came on   
to explain how the helicopters were likely to be deployed).  
  
As the feed returned to the battlefield, the cameraman panned the   
camera to catch sight of something that caught his eye. Ikuko's eyes   
widened as she watched the top of a building glow bright in built up   
energy and then as that energy was released and arced across the sky   
to one of the demons. A cheer came across the television as the   
reporter confirmed the destruction of one of the demons.  
  
Following the confirmation of the kill, the front door opened. Ikuko   
turned around to see ChibiUsa come in. Seeing the TV display the   
battle, the child ran over to her grandmother. She wanted to watch   
the battle, to know what was happening, but she was also scared for   
the life of her mother, just as Ikuko was scared for the life of her   
daughter. The two watched the coverage praying for Sailor Moon while   
comforting each other.  
  
*********  
Five minutes out of Tokyo  
  
"This is Foxbat-1 all units weapons hot." The flight captain called   
out to his wingmen while arming and releasing the safeties on his   
weapons. Turning he looked at his gunnery officer and gave him a   
nervous smile. Opening the comm. channel again "All units report in."  
  
"Foxbat-2 armed and ready"  
  
"Foxbat-3 armed and ready"  
  
"Foxbat-4 armed and ready to kick some alien butt." Came the reply   
from all his units.  
  
The terrain of Tokyo quickly came up on the copters, dropping low to   
the ground; they reduced speed and began their approach to the target   
area. Unfortunately, the targeting computers were not designed to   
shoot things out of a storybook, and so all attack runs would have to   
be made with manual targeting. However, the gunnery officers were   
trained for this sort of thing, so this should not be a problem, as   
many ground attack targets could not be preprogrammed ahead of time.   
As they came around the last city block, the targets came into sight.   
"All units you are cleared to engage targets." Was his last command   
before engaging the enemy, calling "Fox-2" he launched a set of   
missiles at the nearest creature.  
  
*********  
The battleground  
  
Mercury looked up as the Sailor Senshi dodged yet another blast from   
their opponents Damn we are just not strong enough. She thought   
while trying to find someway to gain an advantage. True the tide had   
turned substantially since their arrival. There was now only two of   
the droids and the two sides were evenly matched. However, the droids   
had access to the energy drawn from their Collector Droids, while the   
Sailor Senshi and Rubeus were slowing running out of steam. All the   
Senshi now sported large bruises, gashes, and burns over their body.   
Tuxedo-kamen had shown up shortly after their arrival, but his   
ability to help was limited to ferrying stunned Senshi to the   
sidelines before they were blasted. The park had not fared well   
either, it was now totally destroyed; at least the police had managed   
to evacuate the vicinity.  
  
A flashing light on her visor got her attention. Weapons launch; 8   
inbound AGM? Looking more closely at the data readout, she noticed   
the approach of four Japanese Army AH1S Cobra Helicopter Gunships. As   
she was analyzing this new data, the first salvo of missiles impacted   
one of the demons. The impact threw the droid across the park and   
into an until now undamaged office building.  
  
"You three attack the other droid, Sailor Team lets take out that   
one." Came Venus's commands, taking advantage of the opening given to   
them. Neptune, Uranus and Rubeus immediately launched a new salvo of   
attacks at the still standing droid in an attempt to buy the others   
sufficient time to release their attack.   
  
The pilot of Foxbat-1 cursed the still apparently alive nature of the   
demon they had hit. His eyes caught sight of three of the "allied"   
ground force engage the still standing creature while the other five   
closed in a circle and began to prepare for some kind of attack he   
guessed. Quickly figuring out where best to deploy his men "All units   
attack the still standing creature with all weapons. Alpha Strike,"   
With that the gunships fired all their weaponry at the still standing   
droid at the same time. The 'copters dodged around to avoid becoming   
toast while they followed through with their Gatling cannons.  
  
The combined strikes of Rubeus, Uranus, and Neptune following quickly   
on the Alpha Strike proved too much for the still standing Droid and   
it was turned into dust at the same time that the planet attack   
reached and dusted the other droid.  
  
Looking around the Sailor Senshi breathed a sigh of relief as they   
realized that the battle was finally over. Then noticing the quickly   
approaching media they leapt to the roofs. Making a few adjustments   
to her communicator, Mercury sent out a message.  
  
*********  
  
Foxbat-1 watched in disbelief as the ground troops suddenly leapt up   
on to the building roofs and disappeared. Guess I should have   
expected something like that after seeing what kind of stuff they   
were throwing at those creatures and the damage that they were able   
to take. His musings were interrupted by a transmission over the   
radio.  
  
"Mercury to military forces. Thanks for your help."  
  
Oh this is going to be a real fun debrief. Foxbat-1 thought to   
himself. "Mission accomplished. All units return to base." With that   
the four gunships turned around and began a more lazily flight back   
to their base.  
  
*********  
  
As the gunships left, emergency crews arrived on the scene. The   
police and the Japan Defense Force began the process of determining   
the extent of the damage. It was quickly realized that there was   
minimal threat of further damage, except for the potential collapse   
of a couple of buildings. The city blocks surrounding the park were   
taped off, with much inside the region being condemned. Later that   
evening a casualty list became available. Unlike previous attacks,   
these victims were not so lucky. Only a few of them were found still   
alive, but those were in deep commas from their energy drain. Current   
estimates had a death toll of around 3-dozen. Thankfully, most people   
ran when the first droid made its appearance. The majority of those   
killed were still in the first office building as one of the droids   
had blasted it.  
  
*********  
  
One other spectator/participant of the battle turned away and   
teleported back to her base. Even from the Dark Kingdom base, Beryl   
had become aware of the battle from the level of energy being   
employed. However, to her highly trained magic senses, something   
seemed different about the battle, and so she decided to investigate   
it herself. Arriving at the site, her mage sight identified the   
energy streams that were feeding the demons. She knew about energy   
streams, but never had seen anything like these. And so, she closely   
observed the battle.  
  
Unlike her generals, she was highly trained in the magical arts. Even   
before she discovered Metalia and summoned her, she was one of the   
strongest mages on the earth. Her talents set her up to learn about   
the power held by the nearly immortal beings of the Silver Millennium   
and to have close dealings with the various royal families of the   
earth. Accepting the superior magic of the Moon Kingdom, she was   
content to be one of the strongest earth mages ever with the   
knowledge that she would be able to have any earth prince she wanted.   
But, then that witch cast some kind of spell on her love and stole   
Endymion.  
  
That had been a private declaration of war against Beryl. Knowing the   
only way to free her love from the spell that the Moon Princess had   
cast was to gain power above that held by the Silver Millennium she   
delved into obscure magic texts. In her research, she quite early   
came across the spells needed to summon youma, but they were   
insufficient for what she needed. The answer came when she found an   
ancient text describing a being known only as Queen Metalia, dating   
back to the early days of the Silver Millennium.   
  
The spells needed to open a portal to release Metalia were quite   
simple. And, with the ample magic energy that still flowed in the   
solar system during those days, it was not long before Beryl had   
summoned Queen Metalia. With the power given to her by Metalia and   
her seven Shadow Warriors, Beryl began to plan the destruction of the   
Silver Millennium.  
  
Her plan went off nearly flawlessly, but the flaws that occurred were   
devastating ones. First, that witch used her powers to force Endymion   
to throw himself in the way of the blast that Beryl had unleashed at   
the witch, killing him. To make matters worse, the legendary power of   
the Ginzuishou was too much even for Metalia. Queen Serenity managed   
to banish Beryl and all her followers, while once again sealing away   
Metalia. However, she was only able to imprison the Shadow Warriors   
in the crystal itself.  
  
It had taken them over a thousand earth years to free themselves of   
the banishment. But, a few years ago, they finally were able to   
return to the earth. For them it had been only a few years, but   
everything they knew had turned to dust. This had hardened the hearts   
of her troops and placed those that she had used charm spells on even   
more firmly under her control.  
  
One of the first things they realized upon escaping from their   
banishment was that Serenity had not stopped with destroying their   
force, but she had changed the earth itself. She had managed to   
destroy nearly all the inherent magic contained by the planet. The   
irony was that this was exactly what Beryl's forces did at every one   
of the Silver Millennium member planets as they were attacked. Now   
even gathering the magic for simple spells was nearly impossible over   
much of the planet, and special effort was needed to gather the   
energy necessary to release Metalia. Scans of the planet revealed   
only two magic nexi of sufficient strength remaining on the planet:   
Stone Hedge and Tokyo.   
  
Whereas Stone Hedge was a concentrated magic source, perfect for   
tapping. Tokyo was the exact opposite. There was no centralized   
source, instead it diffused into everything that existed within about   
a fuzzy fifteen-kilometer radius of the city. Consequently, she   
initially directed her troops to secure the magic held at Stone   
Hedge. In the over thousand years since she had been on the planet   
last, the shielding magic on Stone Hedge had increased dramatically.   
Her forces were making no headway, and then the first of the Senshi   
had shown up: Sailor V.   
  
Giving up on the preferred location, she directed her troops to   
gather the energy available in Tokyo. The one advantage of the   
diffuse nature of the energy was that it could be gathered just by   
draining its people. But, of course a Sailor Senshi had shown up   
there as well; another unknown one. To make matters worse the   
guardians of the Moon Princess began showing up as well. A few days   
after the discovery of the Moon Princess's identity, Beryl realized   
what had happened. Queen Serenity had sent her daughter to be reborn   
in the future, and had somehow managed to concentrate all the magic   
energy in the location where her daughter was to be reborn. This   
would give her daughter complete power over the helpless people of   
the earth. Additionally to avoid its use by others before the time,   
she placed heavy shield spells on the magic nexus. A few days ago she   
had confirmed the presence of those shield spells.  
  
Two things were necessary for her to be able to rule this planet as   
its rightful ruler and to have her prince at her side (spells had   
revealed that he had been reborn as well). The first was the release   
of Metalia, so that she would have the necessary power to carryout   
her plans. The presence of Metalia was needed even more now than ever   
due to the devoid nature of the planet. Though she knew that if she   
had been able to capture Stone Hedge Metalia would not have been   
needed. The other requirement was to capture the Ginzuishou for two   
reasons: one it would give her immortality and the other is that its   
power when wielded by one of the royal Moon blood was too strong even   
for Metalia.  
  
While observing the demons facing the Senshi, the amount of energy   
being sent through those energy streams amazed her. If I could   
harness a few of those, I would soon have enough power to release   
Metalia. Following the destruction of the first droid, Beryl   
determined how she could harness that power. While she had herself   
never seen nor heard of energy streams of the magnitude that she saw,   
she felt comfortable in her ability to redirect them upon the death   
of their original target. Consequently, as the other two droids were   
dusted, she was able to harvest a few of the energy streams. Now with   
a stable persistent source of energy she returned to the Dark   
Kingdom, for once in a happy mood.  
  
*********  
A cafe  
  
Haruka and Michiru sat in one of Tokyo's cafes resting after the   
battle neither having the energy do much. Following the battle they   
retrieved Haruka's car, which had amazingly survived the battle   
unhurt. After parking it, they walked into the nearest caf‚ and   
collapsed. With some food in their stomachs the two Senshi finally   
felt like doing something more than just sleeping.  
  
"I am guessing this must be why Pluto awoke us." Summed up Haruka.  
  
"Yes, but what I am wondering is who that mage was that helped us and   
also about those other two Sailor Senshi and their associated tuxedo   
clad warrior. I believe the one that was at today's battle referred   
to herself as a Senshi of the Moon. But, I do not remember any Sailor   
Senshi of the Moon do you?"  
  
Shaking her head Haruka replied: "No, and yesterday she had a small   
child with her as well. And, I definitely know that they did not send   
children out that young into battles."  
  
The two spent the next hour discussing the battle and these other   
allies over their dinner. Both wished that they could go and swear   
their services once again to their princess. However, Pluto had said   
the time was not right yet, so they were instead left with unanswered   
questions that the princess's inner court could provide the answer   
to.  
  
*********  
Tsukino household  
  
Usagi wearily returned home. She now lay in bed having finally   
convinced her mother that she was okay. It had not been an easy task,   
assuring her mother that she was okay. The fact that she had to be   
helped home by both Minako and Makoto did nothing to help her   
position. Yes, if she wanted to do anything other than sleep she   
would be in trouble, but that was all she wanted to do. Moreover, by   
the virtue of her extraterrestrial bloodline she would probably heal   
substantially over night.  
  
The battle itself did not injure her more than most battles, the only   
thing unique about this one was its length, and hence her energy use.   
However, some of the injuries from yesterday had been aggravated,   
requiring Ami to rebandage them upon returning home. Those old   
injuries had sent Ikuko's mothering instincts into overdrive. Even   
telling her that they were old injuries did nothing to calm her   
mother or father for that matter. Her father for his part was taking   
out his anger on Minako and Luna, the two he saw primarily   
responsible for ensuring his daughter's well being.  
  
If she had the energy and was not trying to dissuade her mother, the   
lecturing her father was giving Luna would have been quite hilarious.   
During all this Makoto was the only one left alone. She went between   
the two groups, trying to get Usagi's parents to take a breath and   
relax. However, her efforts were to no avail. Seeing no other option,   
following a henshin she charged up her body with lightning.  
  
The light show of the energy being gathered by Jupiter and the   
subsequent crackling of the stored energy got everybody's attention.   
Seeing an irate Thunder Senshi with enough energy coursing through   
her body to short out half the district caused the two parents to   
pause for the moment. Now with control of the situation she first   
found out from Mercury what needed to be done further with treating   
Usagi. With Mercury's recommendation, Usagi was finally allowed to   
head up to her room to get the sleep she desperately craved.  
  
Now with Kenji no longer in hysterics, the Senshi explained to the   
two parents the battle that was fought yesterday and the one fought   
that day. As soon as she was allowed, ChibiUsa skipped out of the   
room and headed up the stairs to her mother's room. Whereas the other   
Senshi were worried because they had faced a threat that they had   
barely been able to defeat, she was scared because of the memories   
associated with the type of droids that had attacked. This time it   
was more than just bad memories surfacing, it was the real fear that   
Tokyo itself would fall victim to the same fate that would befall it   
in 900 years.   
  
Entering Usagi's room, ChibiUsa paused unsure if she wanted to wake   
her mother. However, she need not have worried, Usagi could clearly   
feel the fear that coursed through the child and until that fear was   
soothed she would be unable to sleep.  
  
Usagi turned her body to face the child and placed a warm smile on   
her face. The moment the weak smile appeared on Usagi's face the   
child's indecision broke down and she flung herself across the room   
and into Usagi's arms. Holding the scared child, Usagi began the   
process of calming her, having suddenly found more than sufficient   
energy for the task.   
  
Ten minutes later when Luna and Ami came in to check on the two, they   
found them fast asleep. Pulling out her computer, she did one final   
scan over the two. Looking at the readings, she noticed that the two   
had somehow managed to synchronize all their body rhythms and even   
their energy fields seemed to have merged. This did not surprise her   
at all; she knew how attached Usagi had become to the child and they   
were mother and daughter. Leaving Luna in the room to curl up with   
the two, she headed back downstairs to assure Usagi's parents that   
Usagi was fine before heading home herself.  
  
*********  
Home base of the Foxbat flight: 0030 hrs  
  
Captain Keffer lay in his bunk wondering why fate hated him so much.   
It had been six hours since his return, and he had been in   
debriefings up to thirty minutes ago. His superiors wanted to know   
everything about the threat his squadron had faced. From the way   
they were asking, you would think that I was supposed to gather   
intel, not neutralize a threat. Additionally he had been called to   
explain his Alpha Strike on the targets. You would think that after   
seeing the way we only injured the first one with a standard missile   
strike, they would understand why I called for a weapons dump on the   
target. Unfortunately, they are probably just taking out their   
frustrations of being caught without a clue on my wingmen and me.  
  
Laying down Keffer attempted to get some sleep. He had time for five   
hours of rest before he needed to be up at 0500 to continue the   
debriefing. However, this time he was being sent to explain to the   
brass the events of the mission. Tomorrow was not going to be a fun   
day. He still could not believe the news clips that he had been shown   
upon returning. Up in the air he did not get a good look at their   
"allied" ground troops. But the news clips showed him who they were   
and the powers that they had. At first, he thought it a joke, but his   
commanding officer quickly killed that and explained that while they   
had no explanation what he saw was real. Jeesh girls in real short   
mini-skirts running around attacking what appear to be creatures that   
only could have come from a child's fantasy novel). And with that   
thought, he laid himself down to sleep, believing that the end of the   
world had arrived.  
  
-End Chapter 8  
  
Author's Notes:  
-Revision Note: the revisions to this chapter deal exclusively   
with the helicopters. Peace Marvin provided me with the   
necessary information to correctly portray that scene. As   
always I welcome the corrections people have.  
  
-It is quite amazing how a story can really take on a life of   
its own. I started this chapter with the idea that it would be   
a nice easy one for the Senshi, allowing Usagi and Mamoru to   
start building their relationship and to start the one between   
Ryo and Ami. But, then the monster attack wrote itself, and   
well the nice easy beginning of the chapter met the reality of   
war.  
  
-I realized that if I am going to start to have long battles,   
then the various militaries are going to need to get involved.   
The absence of military units before is strictly due to the   
quick destruction of the monster upon it revealing itself. BTW,   
this battle probably lasted over two hours (it probably took 30   
minutes to prep and launch those helicopters.  
  
-For those who don't know an Alpha Strike refers to a   
simultaneous weapons attack with all weapons on a platform.   
This is generally considered a last ditch option (since you are   
likely to waste ammo). Nevertheless, if you are fighting a   
heavily fortified target, with a high chance of being shot   
down, an Alpha Strike is your best bet.  
  
-Well I have begun delving into the mind of another enemy.   
Thanks to Comet Moon for giving me the idea, though this Beryl   
is not going to be healable. This Beryl's lust for power was   
only held in check before by her belief that she could have   
Endymion as her lover. The shattering of that illusion by   
Serenity also shattered her desire to be satisfied with only   
the earth. Now she desired the power of the Silver Millennium   
for both personal and political reasons.  
  
-As you might have noticed, I have given Usagi a bound with   
ChibiUsa that is similar to the one that Mamoru has with her   
(the way she knew a few chapters ago about the attack on   
ChibiUsa's school). With ChibiUsa, being her daughter it only   
seems reasonable. The Usagi in this story is probably more   
similar to the one in Stars. The arrival of ChibiUsa gave Usagi   
a reason to mature, and since this was an internal and not an   
external pressure, she actually did mature. She is probably now   
a lot like she was at this age back on the moon as the   
princess.  



	9. Passing Through Gethsemane

The Fragility of Time  
Chapter 9: "Passing Through Gethsemane"  
Author: etj4Eagle  
Email: etj4Eagle@yahoo.com  
http://www.geocities.com/etj4eagle  
Lasted Edited: 8/31/00  
  
Disclaimer: A reminder I own none of the characters of this story,   
all rights are owned by others.   
If you distribute the story, do only   
so freely and inform me of where you post it.  
  
_______________________________________  
  
The next day thankfully was a Saturday, giving the Senshi the much-  
needed opportunity to sleep in. Usagi began to lazily awaken around   
11 in the morning. As much as she needed her sleep last night, she   
had not been able to sleep solidly. Instead, she woke every few hours   
to comfort ChibiUsa. While ChibiUsa did not awake, she was gripped by   
many nightmares that night. Finally, around four in the morning, they   
subsided allowing Usagi to get some solid sleep.  
  
Usagi was debating whether or not to back to sleep when she   
remembered the date she had setup for Ami-chan at 12:30. Ami did not   
knew that she was being setup for a date, only that Usagi wanted to   
meet her for lunch, though Urawa-san seemed to have an idea of what   
was going to happen. Humming happily to herself, she got herself out   
of bed and began the process of getting herself ready.  
  
Coming down the stairs she sighted ChibiUsa sitting at the table   
eating her breakfast. While ChibiUsa put on a face as if nothing was   
wrong, Usagi knew this was not the case. She knew that ChibiUsa was   
still troubled by yesterday's battle. She had not had a chance to   
talk to ChibiUsa yet about what exactly was bothering her, but she   
felt that the damage wrecked yesterday probably hit too close to home   
for the small child. Giving her daughter a hug and a kiss, Usagi   
proceeded to get some breakfast for herself.   
  
"Mamma, what are you doing today?" questioned ChibiUsa  
  
Seeing the pleading look in ChibiUsa's eyes and desiring to reassure   
the child: "I am going over to Crown's to meet Ami-chan and Urawa-  
san, would you like to come with me."  
  
"Hai!" came an enthusiastic reply. ChibiUsa then proceeded to run   
over to Usagi and give her a big hug. "Arigato, okaa-san."  
  
Ikuko watched the scene unfold for the dining room entrance. She was   
very proud of the way that her daughter was handling the situation.   
Usagi had very quickly picked up all the mothering instincts, knowing   
just when something was troubling a child and how to fix it. Much as   
she hated to admit it, her daughter becoming a mother at age 14 had   
done wonders for Usagi's maturity. She had even gotten a call from   
Haruna-sensei the other day informing her of Usagi's turn around in   
her school work. Of course she mused that it did help that Usagi was   
able to skip the whole being pregnant and small child stage and start   
off with a bright seven year old.  
  
A shriek of "Oh No! We are going to be late!" startled her out of her   
musings. Luna, whom she had been holding and petting while watching   
her daughter and grandchild, chuckled. "Even as much as I am glad to   
see her taking things seriously know, it is good to she that some   
things do not change." And, with that Luna hopped down and darted   
after her charge.  
  
*********  
2nd Floor: Crown  
  
The jog after her mother had caused ChibiUsa to forget what had been   
bothering her. Even though Usagi thought that she was going to be   
late, she still managed to arrive a few minutes early. Looking at the   
clock as she sat down, she wondered if she had set a new land speed   
record on her way over here.  
  
Shortly after her arrival, Urawa Ryo arrived. Waving him over he sat   
down. "Urawa-san this is my cousin ChibiUsa. ChibiUsa this is a   
classmate of mine who would make a perfect couple with Ami-chan,   
Urawa Ryo."  
  
Ryo blushed heavily at Usagi's comment. Even though he had deeply   
fallen for Ami, he was still not quite prepared for Usagi to state   
what he desired quite so bluntly. He was thankfully saved from   
further embarrassment for at that moment Mamoru walked in. Usagi   
noticed him almost immediately and calling his name, she waved him   
over.  
  
Motoki who had been about to talk to his best friend Mamoru was   
intrigued when Usagi actually invited him over to her table. He was   
even more intrigued when he accepted the offer with no degrading   
comments. He was absolutely floored when he gave her a quick peck on   
the cheek when he sat down. Walking into the back room, his head   
spinning, he sat down himself, trying to get some semblance of   
understanding of the situation.  
  
It was not long after Mamoru's arrival at the table that Ami walked   
in the door. Usagi quickly spotted her and waved her over. Ami   
approached the table, but then briefly hesitated when she noticed   
that Urawa was sitting there with Usagi and that the only open seat   
was next to him. With a slight blush, she sat down and the foursome   
began to talk. ChibiUsa herself remained mostly quite, preferring to   
let her mother's presence reassure her worries.   
  
While Ami was not one for gossip, she did want to know what the deal   
with Usagi and Mamoru was and so asked about it shortly after their   
food arrived. Both faces quickly turned red as they tried to find a   
voice to reply to Ami. ChibiUsa amused at her parent's reaction spoke   
up: "Of course they are together, they love each other."  
  
Mamoru wanted to commit to a slightly less binding emotion, but as he   
opened his mouth to speak his eyes caught those of ChibiUsa. His mind   
quickly brought back up the memory of how protective that child was   
of her cousin the other day and realized that he did not want to know   
what she would if he were to lie about his feelings towards Usagi. In   
addition, as he searched his soul he realized that while he did not   
know why he did love that blond haired klutz. Almost as if he had   
loved her from the moment that he was born.  
  
Bringing his gaze a little higher, he saw the hope in Usagi's eyes.   
While she might have only now be falling in love with him as Chiba   
Mamoru, she did have a deep crush on his alter ego. "Hai, I do love   
her." He said while putting an arm around her back.  
  
The "Oh Mamo-chan" and her throwing herself into a hug was all that   
confirmation that the feeling was mutual. As they broke apart and   
returned to eating, the conversation turned to some more mundane   
topics. After a while, Mamoru had to excuse himself to take care of   
other errands. Following that, the remaining four decided to move to   
the park to enjoy the afternoon. Walking ahead with ChibiUsa, Usagi   
let Urawa and Ami walk together a few paces back. Arriving at the   
swings Usagi and ChibiUsa went to play while Urawa sat down with Ami   
on a park bench.   
  
Whereas Urawa was in heaven, Ami was suffering from emotions that she   
had never before felt. The topics of their conversation were safe   
enough, class work. But, Ami found that as she talked with Ryo-san,   
he had earlier asked her to call him that, that she was feeling a   
closeness to him. She could not believe that she was actually falling   
for someone, but a look up at Usagi and her wink confirmed that, and   
she knew that she had Usagi to thank for setting everything up.   
Finally deciding to give in, she decided to go with her emotions.  
  
*********  
Elsewhere in the park  
  
Hotaru skipped happily down the path, glad to finally be out of the   
house, even if she did have to have an escort with her. She wished   
that her father had been able to come with her to the park, but he   
had been very busy with work lately. She knew how he tended to get   
when he neared a breakthrough in his work and did her best to support   
him. Therefore, she only gave mild complaint when Eudial said that   
she was accompanying her to the park instead of her father. Normally   
she would not have needed an escort, but this last week had been very   
bad with seizures, and her father was afraid for her to be alone.  
  
Eudial watched the child wondering why life had to be so cruel to   
such an innocent child. She was the only other one besides Tomoe-san   
that knew the truth about the experiments and what had happen to that   
child. She had known Tomoe-san and his wife very well and had been   
good friends with them. Tomoe-san had only two passions in his life   
science and his daughter. His wife had shared his love for scientific   
experiments and the two of them were always carrying out experiments   
or testing knew theories in the labs.   
  
His love of science was physically manifested in Mugen High School.   
The school only accepted the best academic students and gave them   
real challenges, in many cases the students did real research, doing   
work that most would not get a chance to do until they were grad   
students. The only rule was that no theory was too outrageous to   
test. Yes, the students might spend a fruitless year working on an   
experiment doomed to failure. But, what they learned was normally   
well worth it.  
  
With a shudder Eudial remembered that fateful day a year ago.  
  
She herself was a grad student working on her PhD who had   
gotten special deposition to do her research work with Tomoe-  
san at Mugen. Her doctorial work was in physics on a particular   
variant of Super String Theory. Until now no one could test   
Super String Theory as its base concept of multiple higher   
dimensions being curled up tightly was impossible to test.   
However, in this variant fifth dimension was not curled up like   
the others, but instead was equivalent to the first four   
dimensions. A fifth dimension gave rise to what was called a   
megaverse, which was composed of banes. Each bane being a   
different position on the fifth dimension and in colloquial   
terms a universe.  
  
With the aid of the Tomoe-san and his wife she had devised an   
experiment to detect another bane, by creating a portal.   
Tonight was going to by their fifth run of the experiment. The   
first three had failed for various, not unexpected reasons. The   
last one appeared to have worked, and so they were rerunning   
the experiment under the same conditions tonight in an attempt   
to duplicate their results.  
  
Tomoe-san feeling guilty about neglecting his daughter had   
brought her to watch. While this was against ES&H policy, it   
was fairly common for Tomoe-san to bring his daughter to   
observe. It did not hurt that she did not get in the way and   
was often really interested in what they were doing.  
  
Eudial still could not remember exactly what went wrong. All   
that she remembered was at one point glancing over at Hotaru-  
chan and noting an eerie violet glow coming from the girl and   
then all hell broke loose. Equipment exploded left and right   
and then a blast of energy shot out of the portal they were   
creating. Whereas it should only have been microscopic, it was   
suddenly about a meter in diameter.   
  
The next thing she remembered was waking up noticing an   
obviously dead body of Tomoe-san's wife and him holding the   
broken body of his daughter in his arms. Then she sensed that   
they were not alone in the room. In front of Tomoe-san stood   
two vaguely humanoid shaped creatures. She saw him talking with   
one of them and then hanging his head as he obviously gave into   
something that he did not like. Eudial did not see what   
happened next only that one of them noticed her and shot her   
with some sort of energy.   
  
When she came to next she was in a hospital room. Looking   
next to her, she was surprised to see the body of Hotaru and   
even more when she realized the child was alive. Seeing Tomoe-  
san sitting next to his daughter's bed, she realized what had   
happed. She did not know how she knew, only that he seemed   
somehow different. Later when he told her what had happened she   
accepted the cruel twist of fate and told him that she would   
remain at his side to ensure that his daughter did get better.   
While she always looked up to Tomoe-san, she now felt an   
unbreakable loyalty to him.  
  
Eudial shook her head in an attempt to clear it. I came out here as   
much for myself as for that child. I needed to get away from the   
daily running of the school that Tomoe-san has me doing, and what do   
I do I go and think about the incident. Shaking her head some more   
Eudial took off down the path that Hotaru had disappeared down. At   
least she is healthy again.  
  
*********  
  
Usagi was swinging on the swings next to her daughter. The two of   
them had been there for a while. Recently she had finally been able   
to get ChibiUsa to open up about what was bothering her. She felt   
truly sorry for what that child had to go through. She herself felt   
her body cringe slightly with fear as ChibiUsa had told her about the   
Dark Moon attack in the future and the destruction that it wrought.   
She wished there was someway to lift the child's spirits, but after   
how poorly she and the Senshi faced against those three droids the   
other day, she could not think of any way. The only thing she knew   
was that she and the other Senshi had to get stronger and that   
involved finding her birthright.  
  
Luna herself lay in the grass in the sun watching the two. Her mind   
kept returning to the events of the previous day. She and Ami had a   
long talk the previous night about that particular attack. Like Ami   
she was not too pleased with what the computer was showing them. We   
got lucky on that one. If it had been just those five, or even if   
those 'copters had not shown up they would not have survived. How are   
they supposed to deal with two threats at the same time, when the   
princess does not even have the Ginzuishou?  
  
ChibiUsa herself was enjoying her time in the park. While she longed   
to hangout with Mamoru-san herself, she knew that how insecure her   
mother was and that it would not be a good idea for a while. Looking   
out at Luna laying in the sun she noticed a familiar figure coming   
down the path. "Hotaru-chan!" she called while leaping off the swing.  
  
Hotaru who had been walking down the path, at a slightly more sedate   
pace this time heard the familiar voice call her name. Looking up, a   
smile crossed her face as her new friend raced across the field to   
her. The two quickly began catching up on what was happening in each   
other's lives as they walked back over to the swing set.   
  
Usagi noticed Hotaru walking back with ChibiUsa. She vacated her   
swing for Hotaru and then walked over to the sunny grass where Luna   
was sleeping. Laying herself down she fell asleep with a smile on her   
face. For at least a little bit, she would be able to rest easily   
knowing that ChibiUsa's worries would be forgotten.  
  
Luna noticed her charge laying down for a nap. Turning her head, she   
saw the reason why Usagi was able to break away from ChibiUsa. She   
sent a silent prayer of thanks to Queen Serenity's spirit for   
allowing her charge the much-needed rest by sending Hotaru-chan to   
play with ChibiUsa.   
  
Eudial had watched as a small pink haired girl came up to Hotaru-  
chan, one who obviously knew her. She knew the troubles that Hotaru   
had in making and keeping friends, and so was happy that Hotaru once   
again had a friend. She wished that Hotaru would be able to enjoy the   
final days she had as a child in happiness. Eudial had no illusions   
that the daimon that was keeping Hotaru alive, would take full   
control of her just like her father once Hotaru had healed enough.   
Sitting down on a bench she watched the two of them play and wondered   
for the umpteenth time if there was anyway to help Tomoe-san out of   
the deal he had made with the devil.   
  
*********  
  
The week passed relatively normally for the Senshi. They all had   
expected another attack that Saturday, but thankfully, it did not   
come. Instead, things became quite again. Although there was that   
ever present reminder with one of Tokyo's parks completely destroyed.   
By Monday, Usagi had fully healed from all her injuries, which was   
good considering she and ChibiUsa had their martial arts class that   
afternoon. This time she found renewed energy for her instructions,   
not wanting to be quite as helpless as she was during Friday's   
attack.   
  
On Saturday, she had finally convinced ChibiUsa to invite Hotaru-chan   
over to their house, and so it was Saturday morning in which Hotaru   
found herself being introduced to Usagi's parents. While she felt   
comfortable in her friendship with ChibiUsa-chan, she was still   
uneasy about meeting strangers. Usagi had instantly noticed Hotaru's   
tension and with her usual ability was quickly able to get Hotaru to   
let go of her fear.  
  
As they finished lunch, the two younger children were discussing what   
they wanted to do that day. Usagi herself had retired to the living   
room to read some of her manga, between her renewed emphasis on   
school work, and her various additional Senshi training she had found   
herself becoming far behind on her normal manga reading.  
  
Hearing ChibiUsa walking in, she looked up. "Usagi could you take us   
to the art museum?"  
  
Usagi attempted to protest, she had been hoping to spend her day   
relaxing and goofing off for once.  
  
"A good mother should take her daughter places." ChibiUsa stated   
while crossing her arms.  
  
The week of quiet had allowed ChibiUsa to heal after the recent   
fright from the previous Saturday. Consequently, about mid week she   
had begun to taunt her mother occasionally. A couple of times Usagi   
had chased after ChibiUsa calling her a pink spore. In those moments,   
she usually was angry at the child, but upon collecting herself for a   
moment (either when she caught ChibiUsa and was deciding what to do   
or lost the child) she would smile glad that ChibiUsa was happy   
again. In the cases where she did catch ChibiUsa, the child's   
punishment would often be just a very bad case of tickling, which   
would usually end with them both laughing hysterically on the floor.  
  
"Okay, okay I will take you. I bet you want me to pay for your   
tickets too." She mumbled while getting up.  
  
She was immediately shoved back down into the couch as ChibiUsa leapt   
to give her a big hug "Arigato okaa-san." As ChibiUsa bounded back   
off to find Hotaru and get ready, Usagi's mind just realized what she   
had done. Great that is the last time I think aloud. At least   
ChibiUsa is happy once again and that is all that matters. Getting   
up again, this time without being immediately plowed back into the   
couch she headed up to her room to get ready.  
  
*********  
The art gallery  
  
Having finished looking at paintings by Kaiou Michiru, Usagi along   
with ChibiUsa and Hotaru walked into the exhibit showing paintings by   
an artist known as Yumemi. Walking in Hotaru and Usagi froze in their   
places as they saw the first of the paintings. Neither knew why, but   
for some reason the depicted scenes seemed familiar. ChibiUsa herself   
was not hit by the sense of deja vu and instead continued on into the   
exhibit looking at the various paintings. Turning a corner, she   
gasped as she saw one painting in particular. While the face was not   
very well defined, she instantly knew who it was, her mother during   
her life back on the moon.  
  
By this time Usagi and Hotaru had managed to unrivet themselves from   
the floor and began to look at the pictures. When Hotaru came up to   
ChibiUsa, she noticed the tear in the little girl's eye. "What is the   
matter ChibiUsa-chan?"  
  
"Mother, she looks like mother." Hotaru looked at the picture and   
then at ChibiUsa and saw a slight resemblance. She knew that ChibiUsa   
lived with her cousin's family. She did not know why, but figured   
that something must have happened to the poor girl's mother, hence   
the reaction. Putting a comforting arm around ChibiUsa, she lead the   
girl to some other pictures, ones that had really touched herself.  
  
Usagi walked around the exhibit looking at the various pictures and   
she too found a picture that had stopped her. This picture was of a   
queen holding a baby in the middle of what looked like a celebration.   
She did not know why, but she instantly knew that the lady depicted   
in the picture was her mother. She gasped a quiet "Mother" as she   
closely examined the picture trying to remember her mother's face   
from her own memories.  
  
So lost she was in this attempt at memory recovery that she did not   
notice at first the girl who had approached and latched herself to   
Usagi's arm. Turning she saw a girl of about her age with glasses who   
had the most delighted expression on her face that Usagi could   
imagine. Finally, the girl's words registered on her mind.  
  
"You want me to model for you?" asked Usagi  
  
"Hai, you're the inspiration that I need to finish my paintings."  
  
Usagi readily agreed and the two came up with a day and time for the   
modeling. Looking at her watch she was startled to realized that it   
was almost six. "Oh, Mom is going to kill me. How could we have been   
here for so long? I don't even like art. Ugh!" she wined as she   
darted around the exhibit to collect ChibiUsa and Hotaru.  
  
*********  
The next day  
  
Sunday was a change of pace for Usagi. Ikuko had decided that Usagi   
needed some time by herself with her friends, without a seven-year-  
old child following her around. Therefore, as soon as Usagi got down   
in the morning she proceeded to shove both Usagi and Luna out of the   
house. Usagi and Luna were a little perplexed by Ikuko's behavior,   
but Usagi deciding not to look a gift horse in the mouth and quickly   
headed off towards the shrine.  
  
Arriving at the shrine, she found Rei sweeping the steps. Rei was a   
tad bit surprised when she realized that ChibiUsa was not along with   
Usagi. When Luna explained why she could not help but chuckle.   
Inviting Usagi in, the two headed towards the family quarters to sit   
down and talk.  
  
As the two talked, Luna silently thanked the spirit of Queen Serenity   
for the maturing of the relation of the two. With Usagi's new   
maturity, Rei had all but stopped her attacks on Usagi's fitness to   
lead them. They had partially stopped that day they learned that   
Usagi was the princess. However, Luna had secretly crept over to the   
Rei's some evenings and had realized that all Rei had done was   
suppress her thoughts of Usagi's ineptitude in front of the others,   
because Usagi was the princess. But, that she still did feel Usagi   
was not up to the task.  
  
However, Luna had noticed that the private outbursts that Rei had   
over Usagi had steadily decreased. Additionally lately when Usagi did   
show up at Rei's with ChibiUsa in tow Rei had a genuine look of   
happiness on her face before she hid it. Watching the two interact,   
they were now in the middle of a tongue war, she realized that with   
Usagi's maturing the two had become close like sisters.  
  
"Hey Luna come on we are heading downtown." Usagi called to Luna.   
Luna had lost track of what was going on as she mused about the two   
and had missed them planning and then getting ready to head downtown.   
So much for being on top of things. With a leap Luna hopped onto   
Usagi shoulder and the two girls and one cat headed out to the bus   
stop.  
  
As they headed downtown, Usagi talked to Rei about Naru who was still   
depressed from Nephrite's death. Usagi wanted to find a way to help   
Naru get over the death of a man whom she loved. "Usagi I might know   
of someone who could help Naru, he works not too far from where we   
are going to be heading."  
  
The location they headed for was a chapel. The gaijin priest who ran   
the place of worship was well known in the religious community for   
offering help to outsiders of all sorts. Walking in Usagi marveled at   
the beauty of the stained glass windows and lost herself for a moment   
in a daydream of her eventual marriage to Mamo-chan.  
  
"May I help you madam?" asked a helpful voice.  
  
Looking at the source of the voice, Usagi realized that this was the   
one whom Rei had told her about.  
  
"Yes, a close friend of mine recently lost someone very close to her.   
I am worried about her heath, as she has been morning now for many   
weeks and I would like to help her."  
  
The priest took Usagi to a slightly more private area and asked her   
to describe the situation more. Over the next half hour, the priest   
got a good picture of Naru and Nephrite, enough that he thought he   
could help Naru morn her loss and say her final goodbyes to her love.   
As Usagi was leaving, he told her that the problem Naru had faced was   
one where she could not let go of her love until he had been properly   
laid to rest in her mind.  
  
As Usagi got up to leave she tripped over her chair, almost falling   
to the ground. While she managed to catch herself, the jostling of   
her bag had caused the Crescent Moon Wand to fall to the ground. As   
the priest bent down to collect the wand, he noticed the crystal   
embedded in its shaft glowing. Suddenly the visions that he had been   
having while in prayer started to make sense.  
  
Handing the wand back to an embarrassed Usagi he spoke: "I think that   
you may be able to help me, Usagi-san. I have known for a while that   
my spirit has been streaked by darkness. My teachers could not find a   
way to purify my soul, however lately the Lord has shown me that my   
salvation was at hand. The only thing that I remembered from these   
visions is that that this wand of yours is the tool that the one with   
a heart of infinite pureness will use to cure me."  
  
Usagi's first instinct was to deny anything that this man said.   
However, she knew from the wand that he held a Nijizuishou Crystal,   
the contained demon being the cause of the darkness. "Father, I can   
help you. But, you must not tell anyone else of who I am." With the   
priest's nod, she became Sailor Moon.  
  
The priest was floored as he watched Usagi become Sailor Moon. While   
he knew from the last week's news about the Sailor Senshi, what   
caught his eye was the transformation process. What he saw between   
the two forms was an angel revealed for a moment in all its glory.   
The angel's wings may not have been visible, but her purity was.   
Already he could feel the presence of this warrior angel of the Lord   
burning away the evil in his soul.  
  
Grasping her wand, Sailor Moon began the process of healing the   
priest. "Moon healing escalation." And as the healing energy reached   
his body, its light burned the dormant soul of the Shadow Warrior   
away. No longer suppressing an evil soul, the crystal left his body   
to be easily caught by Sailor Moon.  
  
In the process of his being healed, the priest had dropped to his   
knees. Now that he was healed he dropped his head low in a bow. The   
subservient position elicited the traditional response from the Moon   
Princess. "Ah! Get up, don't bow to me."  
  
He did not want to get up, as it was not right to place his self, a   
mere mortal, at the same level as an angel from heaven. However, it   
was also a bad idea to anger your savior, and so he stood. "I thank   
you for freeing my soul of the evil, though if I may ask, what is   
that crystal that was inside me?"  
  
"This is a fragment of the Ginzuishou. This fragment suppressed the   
true nature of your soul, that of a warrior demon. After your soul   
was incased in the crystal a thousand years ago you were reborn here   
on earth and given a second chance. With the dormant evil now   
destroyed, there no longer is a need for the crystal to remain in   
your body and so it left. Once I have retrieved all seven fragments   
and healed the seven demons, I will be able to protect this planet   
from the evil that wishes to conquer it.  
  
"I thank you for your time. I will be back soon with Naru, so that   
you can help her. Ja ne." The last part being said as she turned back   
into her civilian self and left the chapel to find Luna and Rei.  
  
As the priest watched the angel turn back into a schoolgirl and   
leave, he was left with many questions in his mind. In addition to   
those questions, he was also left with a new sense that things were   
going to work out in the world. He knew now that the Lord had sent   
his Messiah to earth again, and instead of how the old religious   
texts described the Second Coming he knew that Judgment Day was not   
upon them.  
  
Instead, this girl was going to continue the policy of forgiving   
those who have sinned. He was stunned by what the angel had said   
about the history of his soul. He could not remember anything of the   
previous life that she had briefly mentioned. Nevertheless, the   
Lord's salvation of all was clearly evident if he, a demon, had been   
given a chance at salvation.   
  
He returned to his work, now knowing that his career path was no   
accident. No, he had been chosen to help the messiah in her quest to   
heal the earth of its evil. The messiah worked in secret, hiding her   
true self as one of those sailor suited warriors. For some reason he   
felt that while the others were obviously something special, they   
were not of the same level of the angel that he had just seen. He   
would need to pray this evening for guidance; maybe even travel to   
the location of the messiah's First Coming to fully understand the   
road that was now lay before him.  
  
*********  
  
"You did what?" cried Luna as Usagi finished explaining how she had   
come into possession of another Nijizuishou crystal.  
  
"Luna I know of this priest, he can be trusted to keep the secret.   
Usagi while it would have been preferable if you had not dropped your   
wand, you did do the right thing in the situation. A person of the   
cloth deserves to know the truth." Rei said while putting an arm   
around Usagi who was starting to become upset.  
  
Even though Usagi had matured a lot, Rei could still see a lot of the   
old Usagi hiding. In particular, Usagi still lacked her confidence.   
She might be the warmest hearted individual helping others all the   
time, but she was unable to help herself. Rei had realized that she   
herself had been the cause of some of the problems she found with   
Usagi. At times, she had pushed Usagi too hard, and Usagi had   
collapsed. Before she did not realize how little confidence Usagi   
had, and had attributed these tears to her immaturity.  
  
However, she had lately learned how wrong she really was. After   
coming to terms with Usagi's personality, Rei realized that she   
really cared for this crybaby, though Usagi's maturing did help a   
lot. Rei herself had closed people outside of herself, but Usagi love   
had penetrated her barrier, destroying it. She knew that she would   
never trade Usagi for anyone else, even if at times she was a flaky   
leader, a klutz, and a crybaby. Her sisterly love of Usagi caused her   
to be Usagi's most vigilant protector. As such she know found herself   
defending the Odango-Atama from Luna, something that if you had told   
her a month earlier would have caused her to die of laughter.  
  
"Hai, hai." Said Luna as she admitted defeat, shrinking back under   
Rei's glare. "Gomen nasai Usagi-chan, I am proud that you managed to   
find a Nijizuishou Crystal before the Dark Kingdom again."  
  
*********  
Queen Beryl's Throne Room  
  
"Zoisite, Kunzite the Sailor Senshi have retrieved another   
Nijizuishou Crystal, and this time you did not even challenge them at   
all!"  
  
"You majesty, we will not let that happen again. We will locate the   
remaining three crystal immediately." Offered Zoisite.  
  
"You are lucky that I am still in a good mood. Otherwise, you two   
would have been joining Jadeite right now. However, I am growing   
tired of your failures, you had better bring me all those crystals   
and soon. And, kill that Moon Brat!"  
  
-End Chapter 9  
  
Author's Notes:  
-Yes, you did not miss it; there were no battles in this   
chapter. Instead, this is more along the lines of what I   
originally thought the last chapter was going to be.  
  
-In case you are wondering about the techno babble in Eudial's   
musings, this is based on an article in the New York Times   
about a month or two. I have kind of based the Sailor Moon   
universe on that article, with the various planes being   
separated along a fifth dimension. Apparently, they are   
designing experiments to test for the presence of this other   
dimension, by attempting to send gravity energy from our bane   
(plane/universe) to another bane. Energy is conserved in the   
megaverse (multiverse) not the local bane (universe) so this   
sent energy will appear as missing energy to us.  
  
-The priest may be making a come back later. Originally, he was   
just going to be mentioned in passing. But, then I decided to   
give him a scene and well the words started to flow and before   
I knew it I had set him up for possible return to the story,   
much like captain Keffer from the last chapter.  
  
-Well there are only three Nijizuishou Crystal carriers left, I   
wonder which will be the next one to be attacked/healed. Will   
it be Ami's senpai, maybe the painter, or maybe even Grandpa   
Hino?  
  
-In case you are wondering about the description of the   
explosion that originally killed Hotaru, in my version Saturn   
caused it unintentionally. Through bad luck, Tomoe-sensei had   
opened a rift to Pharaoh 90's home bane. The presence of a   
major extra solar threat was enough to awaken the sleeping   
Saturn. However, in waking up her energy aura interacted with   
the lab equipment Hotaru-chan was looking at and the discharge   
blew up the lab. As a side effect, it provided enough energy   
for Pharaoh 90 to send to daimons through the rift. One daimon   
possessed Hotaru and went to sleep, allowing Hotaru to return   
to live. The other possessed Tomoe-sensei, this one is   
partially awake guiding him, much as a B-5 keeper. It will not   
fully awaken till he has finished his experiments and opened   
the gate to bring across Pharaoh 90 (at which point he is   
disposable).   
  



	10. Acts of Sacrifice

The Fragility of Time  
Chapter 10: "Acts of Sacrifice"  
Author: etj4Eagle  
Email: etj4Eagle@yahoo.com  
http://www.geocities.com/etj4eagle  
Lasted Edited: 9/7/00  
  
Disclaimer: A reminder I own none of the characters of this story,   
all rights are owned by others.   
If you distribute the story, do only   
so freely and inform me of where you post it.  
  
_______________________________________  
  
The week continued to be a good one for Usagi. The Sailor Senshi now   
held three of the Nijizuishou Crystals and the Dark Kingdom one, with   
three more remaining unfound. Wednesday was a particularly happy day   
for Usagi, as that afternoon she had her modeling session. Mamoru-san   
had offered to give her a lift, as the location given to her was on   
the far edge of town. In addition, he wanted to go along, to make   
sure that she was not getting herself into trouble. Hence, she stood   
with ChibiUsa outside of the little one's school waiting for Mamoru   
to arrive.  
  
"I wonder what kind of inspiration you could give to an artist. She   
must be looking to paint whales." taunted ChibiUsa.  
  
ChibiUsa anticipating Usagi's reaction had already started sprinting   
away, now with an irate blond in tow. Once Usagi almost caught   
ChibiUsa, but an shuck of her backpack into Usagi's path sent   
the older girl spilling onto the ground. The spill only served to   
fuel Usagi's anger, and she quickly recovered and having absently   
grabbed the backpack was quickly gaining on the small child.  
  
However, turning a corner expecting to grab the child, she instead   
plowed straight into Mamoru. The impact sent Usagi to the ground;   
Mamoru however had been expecting Usagi to come flying around the   
corner. His tip off was the child who upon spotting him scooted to   
use him as a human shield. Hence, he had braced himself for the   
imminent collision.  
  
Usagi upon looking up and noticing that her roadblock was Mamoru   
began spouting all forms of apologies. He reached down to offer his   
hand to the worried Usagi who sat on the ground. She was blushing   
heavily, highly embarrassed over almost running him over and making a   
fool of herself. Getting her upright, he proceeded to reassure her   
that his love for her would not falter over something as trivial as   
this. Deciding not to remind her that she had been chasing ChibiUsa,   
he instead herded the two off to the car.  
  
A short time later, they arrived at the address that Usagi held. The   
young artist upon seeing Mamoru standing there with Usagi immediately   
latched herself onto his arm with the goal of securing his modeling   
for her artwork as well. A flabbergasted Mamoru attempted to politely   
decline, but when Usagi also began to insist he conceded in defeat.  
  
As Usagi and Mamoru posed for the young artist, ChibiUsa wandered   
around the apartment looking at the various partially finished   
artworks. Moving to look at the sketch currently being worked on, she   
froze. There on paper was an obvious sketch of her parents back   
during the Silver Millennium. As she looked at the paper, fighting   
back tears, she remembered her past, a future that was no longer to   
be.  
  
So caught up ChibiUsa was in her memories and the sketch she did not   
notice when the young artist felt she had enough sketches. Nor did   
she notice when Usagi picked her up and carried her out of the   
apartment, instead she instinctively clinged to Usagi's shoulder to   
cry. While Usagi felt comfortable with Mamoru, she did not feel it   
was yet time to tell him about ChibiUsa. Therefore, it took some time   
for her to convince him that ChibiUsa would be okay, that she would   
be able to comfort the child herself.  
  
When ChibiUsa became aware again, she realized that she was in the   
park being held by Usagi who had fallen asleep sitting on a bench.   
However heavy Usagi might have been sleeping, she instantly noticed   
the now calm child and awoke. "Use miss your parents don't you?" she   
quietly asked the child. She noticed ChibiUsa trying to protest that   
she was her mother. "Don't worry, I understand that I am not the same   
person as my future self and that there are times when you long for   
her. Come now lets go get some ice-cream."  
  
*********  
Elsewhere in Tokyo  
  
Zoisite and Kunzite walked the streets of Tokyo attempting to locate   
their next target. Both knew that unless they started to get some   
more of those crystals real soon, they would not survive Beryl's   
temper. They were lucky yesterday that she was still in a slightly   
good mood from something or other. However, that good mood of hers   
was beginning to wear off and she was returning to being displeased   
with their progress. Not only had they failed to collect more than   
one of the crystals, but the Moon Princess was also still alive.  
  
As they came around the corner, Kunzite noticed a Shinto Shrine down   
the road slightly. That looks like the one that Jadeite attempted to   
carry out one of his schemes at. Wait a moment that was the one that   
Sailor Mars first showed up at, I wonder. "Zoisite, we know that the   
Nijizuishou crystals are part of the Ginzuishou, and that Serenity   
probably sent them to be born as humans within easy access of her   
daughter."  
  
"Your point being? We don't know anything about the reborn princess,   
other than the disguise she fights under as a Sailor Senshi." replied   
a confused Zoisite.  
  
"Well, that Shrine up there is where Jadeite first ran into Sailor   
Mars. One of the inhabitants may by a Nijizuishou carrier." explained   
Kunzite.  
  
"Then lets go find out."  
  
*********  
The Hikawa Shrine  
  
Something does not feel right. thought Rei as a cold shiver swept   
through her body during her sweeping. Looking up she saw her   
grandfather moving to welcome to visitors. They look familiar, OH   
NO! realizing who they are she open her communicator. "Minna,   
Zoisite and Kunzite are at my place."  
  
A series of "Ok" and "On my ways" came across the channel. Moving out   
of sight, she called upon her power and moved to stop the Dark   
Kingdom generals from whatever they had planned.  
  
"May I help you?" asked Rei's grandfather.  
  
Zoisite was about to politely refuse, saying they just wanted to look   
around, but decide to look at his crystal first. How convenient he   
is a Nijizuishou carrier. A slight head single to Kunzite alerted   
him to his discovery. "Actually you can help me a lot, by returning   
to the service of our great queen. We are here to free you of you   
human prison, Shadow Warrior." Bringing his crystal up, Zoisite began   
to extract the Nijizuishou crystal from the old man in front of him.  
  
Mars running up was about to call to her grandfather, telling him to   
back away when she saw Zoisite begin to extract the Nijizuishou   
crystal from her grandfather. NO!! was the only thought that ran   
through her mind. Releasing a fireball at the two generals, she ran   
towards them filled with fury.  
  
The fireball caught the two generals by surprise. Kunzite was able to   
teleport safely away, but Zoisite was hit by the blast. While not   
seriously injured, he was now pissed about the pain and the delay in   
extracting the crystal. Kunzite uninjured by the attack launched his   
own counter attack at the fire Senshi. The attacks were too much for   
the enraged Senshi and soon she was down on the ground allowing   
Zoisite to finish removing the crystal.  
  
Kunzite moved over the downed Senshi and prepared to finish her off.   
Well it looks like things are finally starting to look up for us.   
with that thought he unleashed a blast of energy at the downed   
Senshi.  
  
Mars looked up through her bloodied eyes to see him standing over her   
broken body. She tried to get up, but her body no longer had the   
ability to move, instead it was just a struggle to remain conscious.   
However, she realized that she would soon not have to worry about   
that as she saw the energy gather in his hands and then streak   
towards her body. A loud scream filled the air as the blast   
intersected with a Senshi, doing all that it was designed to do. As   
the scream died down, Mars realized that she was still alive and then   
further realized that it was not she who had screamed. Opening her   
eyes, she saw why. In front of her lay Sailor Moon, who had thrown   
herself in the path of Kunzite's attack. No she can't be dead, we   
are supposed to protect her. But, then looking more closely she   
noticed the slight rise and fall of Usagi's chest. Assured for the   
moment that her princess was still alive she finally surrendered to   
unconsciousness.  
  
WHAT ? was the only thought that crossed Kunzite's mind as he   
watched a Sailor Senshi from out of nowhere throw herself in the way   
of his blast. Distracted as he was he barely saw the moon tiara   
flying towards himself from the same direction, obliviously thrown   
just before she leapt in the path of the blast. The impact threw him   
across the yard to the ground.  
  
"How dare you disrupt the sanctity of this place. A priest brings   
healing to the soul of the lost; I will not let you corrupt his soul   
into that of a demon. I am the pretty suited soldier in training,   
Sailor ChibiMoon, and in the name of the future moon I will punish   
you." Came a declaration from the same region that Sailor Moon had   
moments ago launched herself.  
  
"And, in the name of Venus, Jupiter, and Mercury we will punish you   
as well." A call came from another section of the grounds, which   
revealed the other three Sailor Senshi.  
  
As Zoisite and the demon prepared to attack, they were blown off   
their feet from a rear attack. "Herald by the new age I am Sailor   
Uranus appearing beautifully."   
  
"I too am here; Sailor Neptune appearing gracefully."  
  
"Mind if we join the party" asked Uranus in a playful tone as she and   
Neptune elegantly lay against a tree.  
  
Zoisite who had dropped the Nijizuishou crystal during the blast made   
a move to fetch the crystal, but as soon as he touched it, it began   
to glow and then winked out of his hand only to reappear in the hands   
of ChibiMoon. "Damn, that Moon brat." Zoisite was about to move to   
attack the pink haired Senshi, but a move of the guardians to block   
his path and the remaining two Senshi releasing their attacks ounce   
again caused him to reconsider. Instead, he and Kunzite decide a   
strategic withdrawal was the best, leaving the Senshi with the demon.  
  
"Well that was fun, you don't want to help them further today?" asked   
Neptune as she noticed Uranus moving away now that Kunzite and   
Zoisite were gone.  
  
"If we help them too often, it'll be too good a service." Replied   
Uranus, and with that the two mysterious Senshi left the scene.  
  
"Damn, those two just left. I was hoping to get some answers."   
grumbled Jupiter. "Hey watch it. I don't care if you are a demon now,   
have some decency you echii creature." The released Shadow Warrior   
seemed to have other things on its mind than destroying the Sailor   
Senshi as the three found out. ChibiMoon herself was ignored, as it   
much more appreciated the attributes of Venus and to a lesser extent   
the other two Senshi.  
  
As the three Senshi attempted to keep there distance from the echii   
creature, ChibiMoon ran sobbing to her mother. While the generals had   
been present she had been able to keep her composure, but know the   
fear that coursed through her body upon seeing her mother hit by the   
blast came out. Arriving at Usagi's side, she called out "Momma!   
Please wake up, don't leave me Momma!" as tears streamed down her   
cheeks.  
  
*********  
Earlier  
  
After dropping Usagi off at the park with ChibiUsa, Mamoru had headed   
over to the arcade to talk to Motoki. Arriving at the arcade he found   
Motoki suffering through depressions over his fianc‚e being out of   
the country. Well if Usagi won't let me help consul ChibiUsa, at   
least I can help my best friend.  
  
It was during this consoling that he felt the pull that he had now   
realized was associated with Usagi's henshin to Sailor Moon. He   
prepared to make his excuses, but then realized that he had an   
obligation to his friend. In the short time that he had gotten to   
truly now Usagi, he knew one thing above any thing else: she did not   
want herself placed on a pedestal above others. If she found out, he   
had abandoned his friend in his time of need, she would be furious.   
Consequently, he returned to lifting Motoki's spirits.   
  
Not long after, Mamoru was blessing whatever deity had been watching   
over him. Only a few minutes after he felt the twinge of Sailor   
Moon's henshin, Motoki had gotten control of his emotions once again   
and was ready to return to work. As Mamoru left the arcade, Motoki   
thanked him for his help and told him to bring Usagi by sometime and   
he would treat the two of them a shake.  
  
Preparing to summon a rose and change to his alter ego a wave of pain   
blasted across his body causing him to double over to the ground.   
"Usako!" he gasped between the waves of pain. He could feel the pain   
washing over her body and then he collapsed to the ground as the pain   
stopped suddenly. No, see can't be dead! was his first thought upon   
the sudden absence of sensation across the link. However, as he   
slowly climbed back onto his feet he realized that the link was not   
entirely devoid, but that he could still feel her, however ever so   
slightly.  
  
With an extreme sense of urgency he became Tuxedo-kamen and began   
running across rooftops to where he felt the pull coming from.   
However, the pull was so slight that he had trouble locating his   
beloved. More than once he needed to turn around, but finally he   
arrived at a Shinto Shrine to see an unconscious Sailor Moon lying   
next to an equally unconscious Sailor Mars. Running up to Sailor   
Moon, he grabbed her up in his arms crying her name softly as he held   
her. Not knowing what to do he sat down on the steps and the child   
Senshi lay her head against the arm holding Sailor Moon's head crying   
as well (though she had changed to a more silent wail now).  
  
The three remaining combat capable Senshi had finally managed to   
secure the demon for the moment. Desiring to let Sailor Moon heal it,   
they had to improvise on their attacks until their leader woke up.   
Creative thinking and the help of the two cats had resulted in one   
hog-tied and gagged demon suspended above the ground. Sailor Venus   
and Jupiter watched the demon while Mercury went to check on the two   
injured Senshi.  
  
Mercury returned with a not so great prognosis. Both Senshi would be   
out for at least another fifty minutes, and she was not sure that   
even when Sailor Moon awoke that she would have enough energy to   
safely use the Crescent Moon Wand. A couple of superlatives from   
Jupiter began the discussion on what they should do to keep   
themselves occupied while the waited for their princess to awake.  
  
The first task they decided to do was to move Sailor Moon and Mars   
inside where they could rest more comfortably. As before this was   
accomplished with Venus and Jupiter playing guard. By the time   
Mercury came back, finished with all she could do for their two   
fallen comrades, Jupiter was ready to start using the demon for   
target practice. She also was not very happy with Mercury's   
suggestion on how to spend the dead time, doing homework. However,   
with Luna and Artemis agreeing she gave in and the three began to do   
homework in their Senshi Fuku while guarding a hog-tied demon hanging   
in front of the shrine.  
  
Thankfully during the seventy minutes they worked on their homework,   
only a few visitors came to the shrine. Each time Venus intercepted   
them before they got too close to get confused. Though by the time   
Usagi had finally awoken, Venus had gotten tired of all the times she   
had to henshin (she did not want to kindly direct the visitors away   
as Venus, that would only result in the press showing up).  
  
*********  
As Usagi open her eyes she at first did not remember what happened,   
but quickly the memories began to come back to her. Turning her head,   
she noticed that she was in Rei's house and that Tuxedo-Kamen was   
sitting next to her bed. Lying against her was ChibiMoon. The child   
had finally fallen asleep with a death grip around her mother's side.  
  
The movement of Usagi's head caught Mamoru's attention. Moving to her   
side, he asked her how she felt while stroking her hair. A quick "I   
have had better days" was followed by a demand to now how everyone   
else was and what about the demon.  
  
"Usako, Mars is out as well, however, Mercury says she should   
recover. Venus, Jupiter, and Mercury are right now guarding the demon   
that they managed to tie up for the moment. Do you feel strong enough   
to heal him?" The last part being asked as he realized Usagi was   
attempting to get up to probably do just that.  
  
She gave no reply other than to ask him to help her out to see the   
others. Two of three Senshi gave a silent cheer for an excuse to put   
away their books as Sailor Moon came out supported by Tuxedo-kamen.   
Looking closer, they gasped as they realized that Usagi carried   
ChibiMoon who was still clinging to her torso asleep.   
  
Jupiter moved up and gently removed the sleeping ChibiMoon and moved   
back to allow Usagi to use her power. "Usako, I am here if you need   
my help" said Tuxedo-kamen as Sailor Moon pulled out her wand. She   
returned an "Arigato" before preparing to heal the demon.  
  
Changing his method of supporting her, Tuxedo-kamen moved his arm to   
warp around her waist and stood slightly behind her. He let his love   
for her pore into her body, hoping that it would give her the energy   
she needed. Suddenly feeling refreshed, Usagi stiffened her back and   
began carving out the circle and released the healing energy towards   
the demon. Having finished her task and her energy now fully spent,   
her Sailor Moon form dissipated and she collapsed into Tuxedo-kamen's   
arms asleep.  
  
The demon returned to Rei's Grandpa collapsed onto the ground.   
Returning to their civilian selves, Makoto and Minako carried him   
into the house and laid him down on his bed. They only worry they had   
left was Mars, who because she had yet to regain consciousness was   
still in her Senshi form. Then almost as if sensing the completion of   
the battle she opened her eyes for a few moments when the Senshi had   
reentered the building. After having been assured by Ami that Usagi   
was fine, she released her Senshi form and drifted back to sleep.  
  
Normally a former Shadow Warrior is back on their feet fairly   
quickly. However, Rei's grandfather had been a demon for over an   
hour. Consequently, Ami's computer indicated that he would probably   
be out for the rest of the night like Rei and Usagi. Minako and Ami   
gave a call home with a modified explanation of the events that had   
occurred to let their parents know that they would be late coming   
home. Luna had excused herself to go inform Usagi's parents of the   
incident after ChibiUsa had awoken long enough to explain how Usagi   
was injured. ChibiUsa herself decided to spend the evening snuggled   
up against her mother. Once again, she had almost lost her. She knew   
that there were a couple of close calls when the Black Moon was after   
her, but nothing like these incidents, except for that one time on   
Rubeus's ship. She was deeply afraid of losing her mother, but curled   
up next to her mother, her worries always seemed to fade away. And   
so, she snoozed contently with Usagi's arm instinctively wrapped   
around her body.  
  
Luna returned with Usagi's parents who upon hearing the news decided   
that they needed to see their daughter for themselves. Now they sat   
on the bed watching her and ChibiUsa sleep. While this incident gave   
them another scare, it also again made them proud of their daughter.   
In describing what had happened, Luna had told them Ami's findings   
that the blast that Usagi had taken would have killed the injured   
Mars. They only wished that their daughter could find ways that she   
could show her bravery without almost getting herself killed.   
  
The Senshi, the cats, and Usagi's parents spent most of the evening   
just sitting watching the two injured Senshi sleep and recover. Only   
later that evening did they begin to realize that they had not eaten.   
Makoto whipped up a quick snack for them, one that fitted the   
mourning mood well. During the evening, each person played back the   
battle in their mind realizing for the first time how close they came   
to losing one of their members that day. While the three Senshi and   
two cats had a reasonable acceptance of the almost death of Mars,   
they however were having very heard times coming to terms with   
Usagi's sacrifice.  
  
She was their princess; they were supposed to protect her. But, how   
could they protect someone who would throw herself in the way to   
protect them. They did not know, and that worried them. What worried   
them most about Usagi sacrificing herself from one of them was not so   
much their duty, but that they each loved her so much. Finally it got   
late enough that the girls and Usagi' parents left to head home.  
  
-End Chapter 10  
  
Author's Notes:  
_Thanks to Marianya for pointing out that I was using Luna-P  
in the opening scene (fixed on 9/7/00).  
-Well that was a short chapter, only about six pages. Guess   
that is what happens when you do most of your set up work in   
previous chapters and then have a very short lead in to the   
battle.  
  
-Another reason why this (and probably the next two) is kind of   
short is that I am suffering a bit from writers block. The   
problem is that I know where I want the story to go starting   
with the reassembly of the crystal, it just that I have kind of   
lost the enthusiasm for getting there. But then things should   
get better once we get there, as I have thought a couple of the   
later scenes out a lot. Also, I can start bringing some of my   
guns back off the wall and there are quite a few guns on the   
wall at this point in time.  
  
-It also seems that with classes over for the semester that my   
motivation for writing is gone (yeah now that I actually have   
time to write, it is harder to fine the desire to write, ugh!)  
  
-I did like the idea of having the Senshi having to find a way   
to restrain the youma and then occupy themselves with Usagi   
knocked out. I always wondered what would happen if Usagi was   
not present or capable at the time they needed her to dispatch   
the monster of the day.  



	11. Divided Loyalties

The Fragility of Time  
Chapter 11: "Divided Loyalties"  
Author: etj4Eagle  
Email: etj4Eagle@yahoo.com  
http://www.geocities.com/etj4eagle  
Lasted Edited: 8/31/00  
  
Disclaimer: A reminder I own none of the characters of this story,   
all rights are owned by others.   
If you distribute the story, do only   
so freely and inform me of where you post it.  
  
_______________________________________  
  
The next morning found Usagi and Rei still laid up in bed. Rei's   
grandfather, having only been a Shadow Warrior and not too terribly   
injured in the battle had fully recovered from the incident, his only   
injury really being exhaustion. Ikuko had come by in the morning with   
ChibiUsa, after talking with the old priest they had decided it best   
that Usagi spend the day resting beside Rei, as both would probably   
be anxious about the other's condition when they awoke.  
  
After checking on the two girls one more time, the old man went   
outside to tackle some of the shrine chores. One troubling thought   
that had been running through his mind all morning was why were the   
two girls so badly injured whereas he was in fine shape. He did not   
remember much from the incident, but he could clearly make out the   
bruises and burns on the two girls. He only hoped that they would get   
better quickly.  
  
He chuckled to himself as he remembered the eager child that Tsukino-  
san had brought with her. The first indication that he had about   
their arrival was when the little pink haired munchkin blasted into   
the room that the two girls were sleeping in and proceeded to   
promptly latch herself onto her onee-san. He could clearly see the   
love that was radiating from the small child to the elder one, and   
surprisingly even as Usagi lay asleep she grasped the little one up   
into a hug and radiated the love right back.   
  
He was glad that his grandchild had found a friend like Usagi. Rei   
had wrapped herself in a protective shell ever since the death of her   
mother. She attempted to keep every one distant from her, to avoid   
the pain of loosing another loved one, but the love that Usagi   
radiated to everyone penetrated that barrier. He could see Rei   
responding to that love almost right away. And, then recently Rei's   
barrier had fully collapsed and he could see that she was now coming   
to terms with the sisterly love that she held for Usagi.   
  
********  
Juuban Junior High School  
  
Ami and Makoto had been unable to find out the condition of Usagi and   
Rei before leaving for school, all they knew was that Usagi was not   
in school. Walking out to lunch alone a black shape dropped off the   
building and onto Ami's shoulder. Momentarily startled she quickly   
recovered as she realized who the black shape was. "How is Usagi?"   
she asked her new companion.  
  
"She seems to be okay. Both her and Rei are still out of it, but they   
seem to be doing well. Rei's grandfather is now looking over the   
two." Replied her visitor.  
  
Ami spotted Makoto ahead at the tree the group normally ate at and   
moved over to give her the good news. "Mako-chan, Luna says that   
Usagi and Rei are doing okay, though both are still asleep."  
  
Makoto's expression immediately brightened at the news and she hugged   
the cat for having brought the news. Breaking out their bento boxes   
the two began to eat, giving a piece every now and then to a most   
gracious Luna. Feeling a presence behind her, Ami looked up to see   
Urawa standing behind her. "Urawa-san!" she exclaimed  
  
"Hi Ami-san, Makoto-san." He said while sitting down next to Ami.   
"Ami-san, how is Usagi doing? I hope she is feeling better after last   
night."  
  
"She is okay, she and should hopefully be back in school tomorrow,   
but needs a lot of rest while she heals." As Ami answered his   
question she got a nagging feeling on how he knew about the attack.   
She figured the news would get out sooner or later, but not quite   
this quick.  
  
"Something happened to Usagi? Is that why she is not in?" asked a   
suddenly distraught Naru who had had come to join the group.  
  
Urawa answered her question. "There was an attack at the Hikawa   
shrine last night. Both Usagi and Rei were badly injured during the   
attack."  
  
Naru sat numbly eating her food puzzling over her and Usagi's   
apparent bad luck for attracting those demons. Usagi was involved in   
another one of those weird monster attacks, oh I hope she is okay.   
Both her and I seem to have bad luck with attracting these   
creatures.  
  
"Naru why don't you come with us after school when we go to pay her a   
visit?" offered Ami.  
  
"Agrito, I would love that Ami-chan."  
  
********  
  
By the time that school let out both Rei and Usagi were feeling   
somewhat better. Usagi's energy had almost fully returned to her, but   
Rei's grandfather had forbid either of them from getting out of bed.   
However sufficient energy had returned to Rei to give Usagi a serious   
scolding and as soon as her grandfather was out of hear shot she   
began to give her princess a piece of her mind.  
  
"What did you think you were doing throwing yourself in the way of   
that blast? You could have been killed!" she yelled at Usagi  
  
"And, if I didn't then you would have been. Rei, I don't won't any of   
you sacrificing your lives for me."   
  
"Princess it is our duty." She continued, not letting Usagi get her   
retort in "Even if it was not our duty, we would still do the same.   
You mean too much to each of us, for us to lose you. I could never   
live with myself if you died and I could have prevented it. Usagi you   
are like a sister to me and anyone who tries to harm you will have to   
get through me."  
  
Usagi was left speechless by Rei's tirade, she sat looking blankly at   
the fiery priestess. She knew how much each of them meant to her, but   
she never really realized how much she meant to each of them. She did   
the only thing she could; she flung herself across the space between   
the two mattresses and wrapped Rei up in a hug. The two sat there   
holding each other and crying into each other's arms, letting the   
emotions of almost losing someone they loved dearly out. As they   
began to regain their composure "Just don't ever scare us like that   
again Usagi."   
  
The two remained holding each other, and that is how the other Senshi   
and Naru found them when they arrived. To say they were speechless   
would be an understatement; they could not believe what they were   
seeing. While the Senshi had started to see Rei and Usagi becoming   
closer, it was such a complete shock to Naru that she passed out.  
  
The thunk of Naru hitting the ground startled Usagi and Rei, causing   
them to realize that they had guests. "Naru-chan" cried Usagi when   
she realized that it was her best friend who had made the thunking   
noise. Quickly moving, she helped her friend up and began fussing   
over her.  
  
"I guess this means that they must be okay, if they are up an about.   
Though, maybe not, seeing that they were actually being civil to each   
other for once." Announced Makoto. However, with that last comment,   
Makoto suddenly found herself being stalked slowly by both Rei and   
Usagi.  
  
Ami, who decided to confirm Makoto's suspicions with some quick   
medical tests, probably managed to save Makoto from a fate worse than   
death. Hence, Usagi and Rei suddenly had thermometers stuffed in   
their mouths while Ami grabbed their wrists to take their pulse   
(somehow managing to take both pulses at the same time). Shoving them   
both back down on the nearest bed, she pulled out a penlight and   
began to check their eyes. Satisfied she turned around and addressed   
the others: "They appear to be fully healed after last night. It just   
took a little longer than Rei's grandfather." The last bit she added   
for Naru's benefit. "Their being civil is probably a result of the   
two finally getting sense knocked into their heads after being   
blasted. Maybe now they won't waste so much time fighting instead of   
studying." The final statement causing everyone to drop their heads   
and groan.  
  
Usagi remembering what she wanted to do with Naru got up and grabbing   
Naru, the two began to leave. She had almost reached the steps when   
she realized that she was being trailed by Minako and Makoto, turning   
she glared at her two shadows and cleared her throat. The shadows got   
the message and turned back to the shrine.  
  
"What was that about asked Usagi?" asked Naru.  
  
"Oh nothing. The others seem to have some crazy notion that if they   
let me out of their sight I will be attacked. Just because I have   
been present at two of those monster attacks, does not mean that one   
is going to pop up out of nowhere and nab me. Heck, at least one of   
them was present with me both of those times. Ugh!" replied Usagi   
throwing her hands up, disgusted with the over protectiveness of her   
guardians at times.  
  
"Usagi, where are we going? You said you had something to show me?"  
  
"Huh? Oh yeah." Replied Usagi while scratching the back of her head,   
having until a moment ago completely forgotten about what she wanted   
to do with Naru. "There is a person whom I met the other day, who I   
think you should talk to about Nephrite. I know how much he meant to   
you, but you need to lay his memory to rest. I am worried about you."   
During the last part she laid her hands on Naru's shoulders stifling   
the pending protests.  
  
Naru wanted to reply that she was okay. But, she knew that she wasn't   
and could not bring herself to lie to Usagi. Also, she could see in   
Usagi, how much her hurting was hurting Usagi and the last thing she   
wanted to do was to hurt Usagi. And so, she accented to Usagi's help.  
  
Within a short period of time they arrived at the chapel. Walking   
inside the priest immediately recognized Usagi. Excusing himself from   
the assistants he was talking with he made his way over. "Konnichiwa   
Usagi-sama, this must be Naru-san." He said indicating towards Naru.  
  
After exchanging pleasantries and a couple of attempts by Usagi to   
get him to call him to just call her Usagi-chan, Naru left with the   
priest. Usagi herself wandered around the building looking at the   
various stained glass windows. Kneeling down at the dais she decided   
to say a prayer for her friend and another one for her daughter.  
  
********  
  
Opening her eyes, having finished the two prayers she found that she   
did not know where she was. However, while the space around her did   
not resemble anything discernable she did not feel fear, instead she   
felt comfort at ease, almost as if those feelings were radiating   
through the realm itself. Feeling a presence she turned, and as she   
did the realm rippled becoming concrete.  
  
Instead of the haze, she now stood in a marble room. Looking down at   
her body she noticed that she was dressed in a fine white gown,   
looking up she saw an older women dressed in a similar elegant white   
gown. This woman had her silver hair done up in odango as well and a   
crescent moon adorned her forehead.  
  
Usagi instinctively knew who this woman was, even though she held no   
memories of her. "Mother" she cried as she flung herself across the   
room. Even in her eagerness to grab hold of her mother, she   
remembered to stop and curtsy before grabbing hold of the lady in a   
hug.  
  
"Princess Serenity, my daughter, it is good to see you again."   
Replied the women as she pushed Usagi back a moment to get a good   
look at her. "I am proud of what you have accomplished. You have   
become a fine young daughter."  
  
"Mother, what am I doing here?" asked a confused princess.  
  
"Always the one for questions. I should not have been able to talk   
with you yet, but your desire to protect your daughter has been   
breaking the spell I put on you to protect you faster than I   
expected. Your prayer at the chapel was the last I needed to be able   
to reach out to you.   
  
"I just wanted to see you before you faced the hard battles ahead. I   
should have followed the advice of others and given you training, but   
I was blind to the pending fall of my kingdom. Just remember that   
your greatest strength is your heart and when you have reclaimed the   
birthright to use your powers through it.  
  
"Our time is growing short my daughter. Take care, do not despair,   
you will remember me soon enough. And, you have a lot more power than   
you know, even more than I ever had. Remember I will always love   
you." With those final words, the scene in front of Usagi began to   
fade.   
  
********  
  
In its place she began to make out the presence of the chapel   
instead. Standing with a little creak in her back she was startled to   
see Naru and the priest sitting down near where she had been in   
prayer.  
  
"You are done already?" asked Usagi  
  
"What do you mean already? We have been done for nearly forty-five   
minutes, you have been like that for over two hours." Replied Naru.  
  
"I hope the questions that you sought answers for were answered to   
your liking Usagi-sama." said the Priest with a knowing look in his   
eyes as he and Naru moved towards Usagi.  
  
The three walked towards the back of the chapel and the exit. "Thanks   
for your help father. I think I can now finally let Nephrite go."  
  
As the two left the chapel and walked down the street, the priest   
waved to them before returning inside. "Usagi-chan, thanks for taking   
me to see that priest. He helped me give Nephrite's soul the final   
resting it deserved."  
  
"He was a good man in the end, and did deserve proper rights for his   
passing." agreed Usagi. "I am glad that he was able to put your soul   
at ease."  
  
As the two continued down the street Naru's mind kept going back to   
something that had been bothering her about the trip to the chapel,   
Usagi's relation with the priest. She couldn't help but feel that she   
was missing something, particularly since the priest refused to use   
anything other than the sama honorphic in addressing Usagi. And, then   
there was Usagi's meditation. She had never known Usagi to do   
something like that, but there she was in a complete trance, and when   
she and the priest came upon Usagi he seemed to recognize something.   
She wished that she understood English better, so that she could have   
understood what he said to himself when he saw her like that. She   
wanted to ask Usagi about it, but she had a feeling that this was one   
of those things Usagi would not talk about. There once was a time   
when Usagi would tell her everything, but during these past few   
months Usagi had begun to keep things from her. She did not know why,   
but she associated this new Usagi with that black cat. Ever since   
that day she and her mom were attacked by a monster, Usagi' demeanor   
had begun to change. And, then there was the whole incident involving   
Nephrite. Usagi seemed to know things that she shouldn't and lately   
there were far too many coincidences where Usagi was somehow   
involved.   
  
She knew that Usagi still cared for her deeply, she could clearly see   
that in Usagi' eyes this afternoon. So it couldn't be that Usagi   
cared for her less and that was why she was hiding something from   
her. No, the only reason why Usagi would keep something from her   
would be to protect her. She knew how loyal Usagi was to anyone she   
loved. She had only heard sketchy reports from Usagi's other friends   
about what happened last night, but apparently she had thrown herself   
in the way of a demon attack to protect an injured Rei.  
  
As they walked she wished there was someway that she could help Usagi   
with whatever was troubling her. She knew her friend had somehow   
assumed a large responsibility. She only hoped that Usagi would   
remember that there were others who were willing to help her. As much   
as Usagi might have disliked it, she did understand the motives   
behind Usagi's friends wanting to follow her today. Arriving at her   
mom's shop she said goodbye to Usagi who had to return to Rei's   
shrine to do some studying.   
  
As Usagi walked away she called out one final thing to her "I won't   
ask about it, but remember that I will always be here for you. Do not   
forget us when you try to shoulder the responsibility yourself, let   
us help carry the weight. Sayonara Usagi-chan."   
  
********  
  
Walking back to the shrine Usagi tried to sort out the thoughts that   
were running through her head. She was elated over finally having a   
picture of her mother's face in her mind, even though none of the   
memories had returned yet. The others might not know what Queen   
Serenity had meant by the spell breaking early do to her efforts to   
protect her daughter. But she did, she had clearly felt at times that   
spell that protected her identity.  
  
The spell was a complete one that was obvious from Luna not   
recognizing who she was and instead assuming that there was a Senshi   
of the moon. Since ChibiUsa had arrived she had probed the extent of   
the spell. From her probes she knew that she still retained all her   
memories of the past, but they were blocked by the spell. Anything   
that would give her away as the princess was blocked or altered. The   
only things remaining the same were those things that were so tightly   
ingrained to her spirit that they could not be hid and her peculiar   
hairstyle.  
  
Her kindness and fun heartedness were both innate properties of her   
soul. The same was true with her eyes, which were the windows to her   
soul. Her body more physically resembled that of princess Venus than   
her own, but that was to be expected. Venus, being commander of the   
Senshi, was normally her personal bodyguard. The magic that hid her   
probably also created the fuku of Sailor V, it too closely resembled   
her own for it to be otherwise.  
  
She knew that she held far more power than she was able to bring to   
bear on the enemies, but the glamour spell prevents her from   
accessing it. Occasionally she would be able to access for a moment a   
small piece of it in protecting ChibiUsa. But, with Rubeus's droids   
running around she knew that she would soon need full access to that   
power. The last battle with them was evidence of that, but that power   
was off-limits to her until the spell broke.   
  
But, the spell was nearly broken. She instinctively somehow knew that   
the spell would break when she reassembled the Ginzuishou. With her   
birthright reassembled the spell would no longer be needed and she   
could bring her strength to bear. Unfortunately, that required   
finding the last two Nijizuishou crystals and recovering the one held   
by Zoisite.  
  
So lost in thought she was, that she did not even notice that she had   
arrived at the shrine, nor that she had sat down and pulled out one   
of her books. The other girls had tried getting her attention to no   
avail. They had even placed various food items in front of her and   
were startled when she ignored them. At one point Rei had to convince   
Makoto that Usagi was not possessed and Ami, Minako that she was not   
dead.  
  
ChibiUsa managed to rouse Usagi from her state after all the other   
girls failed. Her solution was simple: she just told Usagi that Mamo-  
chan was taking her out for dinner tonight and not Usagi. The   
immediate reddening of Usagi's face in anger and her lunge towards   
the child brought her out of her thoughts. Thankfully for ChibiUsa   
she had the forethought to make her announcement to Usagi behind   
Minako and Makoto, so that when Usagi lunged forward she plowed right   
into those two.  
  
While Minako was left stunned on the ground, Makoto had enough sense   
to grab Usagi and hold the enraged girl down while Ami explained that   
ChibiUsa was just doing what none of them had been able to do for the   
past ten minutes, get her attention. A calmer Usagi apologized for   
spacing off, which was followed by a quick tong war with Rei. The war   
was quick only because ChibiUsa decided to taunt Usagi slightly more   
on Mamoru and hence was quickly running for her life.  
  
"Should we go after her?" asked Ami  
  
"No those two need some good bonding time when they aren't facing   
demons." Replied Rei  
  
"Sure." Replied Makoto, not quite sure if she believed that what was   
happening outside could be considered bonding time, unless an irate   
Usagi pounding ChibiUsa was considered mother-daughter bonding.  
  
********  
Later  
  
Eventually Usagi and ChibiUsa returned inside to rejoin the other   
Senshi. However, it was not long after that the group broke up for   
the evening. Usagi left still needing to do lots of work at home; her   
two-hour meditation earlier in the day had eaten up time that she   
really could not afford to have spent. To the surprise of all but,   
Usagi, Ami left the study session to do something other than more   
studying: she was meeting Urawa for a date. By this point Minako and   
Makoto were wondering if the world really was about to come to an   
end. Unfortunately Minako in thinking about the recent changes in her   
friends manage to scare herself silly and latched onto to Makoto with   
cries of "You will protect me right? You are not going to let them   
take poor Minako next."  
  
Ami was still close enough to the others to here Minako's statement   
and a glance behind her showed Makoto trying to pry off a terrified   
Minako. Walking she chuckled replaying that scene. Meeting Urawa, the   
two went into to a small restaurant for dinner. Over the meal the two   
talked about various things, including the recent incident at the   
shrine. Following their enjoyable meal the two decided to take a walk   
in the park. The walk over consisted of some small talk, but for the   
most part they were silent, just happy to be in each other's company.  
  
Arriving at the park, Urawa directed Ami over to a bench where they   
sat down. Then becoming serious he began: "Ami-chan, one of your   
enemies, Zoisite, will come for me shortly and I will become one of   
those demons. When that happens you must promise me that you will   
kill me."  
  
"Ryo-kun, I can't." replied Ami as she began to breakdown.  
  
"Ami you must, I don't want you hurt, and definitely not by me. The   
time is almost here, you should call the others."  
  
As a tear stricken Ami opened her communicator to call the others,   
Urawa got up and walked around to greet Zoisite as he appeared. "You   
must be Zoisite, and you probably want the Nijizuishou crystal that   
is contained within my body."  
  
"How do you know my name?" demanded Zoisite, and then a moment later   
having regained his composure he continued. "It does not matter, you   
know what your fate is, so now return to the service of our great   
leader."   
  
As the spell's energy reached Urawa, his body began to wither with   
the full awakening of his soul and his screams echoed through the   
park. Hearing the screams Mercury dashed onto the scene. "How dare   
you interrupt a happy couple's date. In the name of Mercury I will   
punish you."  
  
Seeing his opposition Zoisite laughed. "Only one Senshi, and the   
weakest at that. This will actually be amusing."  
  
Without the magic effects of the Nijizuishou Crystal, for the first   
time in around a thousand years Urawa's soul began to awake. As it   
awoke the energy caressing his body increased in intensity. To the   
soul the process seemed to take forever, but for those who watched,   
it took only a half-minute or so. At some point the soul began to   
become aware of its surroundings and with that awareness its memories   
prior to its imprisonment began to return. It remembered its service   
to Metalia, her alliance with that greedy fool Beryl, the attack on   
the Silver Millennium, and its subsequent death. After being   
suppressed by the Nijizuishou Crystal for so long, the awakening   
creature was weak. This prevented it from recovering all its   
memories: those of what it really was, how it came to serve Metalia,   
and then this life.  
  
Being weak, it needed to feed, wanting energy it looked towards its   
awakener for the needed energy, knowing full well that it would not   
get the amount it truly needed. However, as its senses focused on its   
surroundings, it realized that environment was teaming with the dark   
energy it needed. At a subconscious level, it knew this to be   
abnormal, but for now did not care and instead began to absorb the   
energy. The first visible sign of its regain strength was that it was   
able to return to its true form. The previously awakened shadow   
warriors had taken the form of those pathetic youma, because they   
were so starved for energy.  
  
The true form of the Shadow Warrior could only really be described as   
a shadow given flesh. Its skin was utterly black; in looking at it,   
your eyes would slide right off. Fully awakened it let out a scream,   
a scream that did not echo through the air, but through the minds of   
everyone nearby, a scream that told of the awakening of a great evil.  
  
The creature had a name, but like the name of its race it was utterly   
unpronounceable by any of the younger races. Instead they were often   
simply just termed Shadows. He was a specially bred member of his   
race, bred to be a fighter. This was unusual, as usually they liked   
to stay behind the scenes, remaining invisible and sending others out   
front. He did not naturally have magic abilities, his having come   
from that being Metalia, as such he normally preferred conventional   
attacks that ripped his targets apart.  
  
None, not even Metalia, knew the true nature of his kind. They were   
not from this universe. No they were co-guardians of the younger   
races in another universe. His kind had long ago discovered the   
ability to traverse the megaverse, to look for similarly minded   
races. Here they found one, Metalia and he and six others were sent   
to provide aid. For him he was glad to leave, as his gift had shown   
him the pending downfall of his race. He knew that within his   
lifetime that they and their co-guardians would forget their ways and   
infighting would commence. In the fighting they would forget their   
purpose and instead begin destroying whole worlds of the younger   
race, because they choose the wrong side or did not choose at all. He   
also knew that those who came here would never leave. But, here he   
hoped the balance would not polarize, as it would back home.  
  
The recovering of all those past memories took only moments once he   
regained his true form, turning he glanced at his awakener figuring   
that he owed at least some allegiance to this creature for the time   
being. Zoisite smiled as he saw the Shadow Warrior awaken fully.   
Finally the Sailor Senshi will be forced to face the power of a true   
Shadow Warrior. With this warrior, the earth will be ours. They   
easily ripped through the Senshi during the fall of the Silver   
Millennium and this one will do so again, starting with that   
annoyance. "Honorable Shadow Warrior destroy that Senshi.  
  
The warrior turned to face its victim and thought how good it would   
be to run its claws through her flesh and feel her blood run down his   
arms. He could already feel the pleasure that it would bring as his   
gift activated, as it always did when he went into battle. He was   
what some might call a profit, with the ability to foresee the   
future. However, his premonitions were rare normally. But, in combat   
he could see all possible outcomes of a battle. As such he had the   
best strategic ability of all the Shadows. When this ability first   
began manifesting itself he lost himself in the visions, but now he   
had learned to control them. Stalking towards the creature all his   
visions showed him ripping her limb from limb, but surprisingly to   
him an emotion of sorrow filled his soul with that outcome. Not   
knowing why, he knew that this female was precious to him and he had   
to protect her at all costs.   
  
Instead he turned to gaze at Zoisite. He suddenly saw how the inept   
abilities of this feeble being had destroyed his comrades. He saw the   
lust for destruction embodied by Metalia, and knew that the balanced   
must be maintained. He was a guardian of the younger races, and as   
such his allegiances had now changed.  
  
He looked back at that which was precious to him and saw the Senshi,   
the names Mercury and Ami-chan coming to mind, had dropped to her   
knees. Her head was bowed low awaiting his execution of her. Needing   
to touch her and reassure her, he quickly closed the gap between the   
two of them and picked her up and held her against his chest with one   
arm. Using his other arm he gathered energy, as Metalia had shown   
him, and flung it at his former commander. He would have preferred   
using his claws to shred the general, but he could not risk injury to   
Ami-chan.  
  
Zoisite for his part was fuming after realizing that the warrior was   
not killing the Senshi, but protectively holding her. To his credit,   
he did think to raise his shield at the last possible moment in case   
the Shadow Warrior had decided to defect. The barely risen shield was   
all that kept him alive. The blast sent him through a series of trees   
(knocking over the first three and stopping against the fourth).   
Unprepared as he was for the blast he dropped the recently extracted   
crystal.  
  
The Shadow creature wanted to finish off Zoisite, but the trembling   
Mercury held his attention. He needed to sooth her soul and so   
content at least that he had hurt Zoisite he left the park. As the   
warrior disappeared off into the distance, Zoisite managed to pull   
himself up out of the rubble. Only one thing remained on his mind   
now, revenge. The Shadow Warrior must die for the humiliation, and so   
Zoisite gave chase.  
  
********  
A little bit later  
  
The other Sailor Senshi arrived in the park only a few minutes after   
Zoisite had left. They would have been their sooner, but the   
telepathic scream of the awakening Shadow Warrior had knocked Mars   
down. Not wanting to leave Mercury to fight Zoisite by herself, Usagi   
had Jupiter carry Mars until she recovered from the psychic blast.   
Arriving at the park they looked around. All participant of the   
battle were long gone, but Zoisite's journey through the trees was   
evidence that their had been a battle. "Where is Mercury?" wondered a   
worried Sailor Moon aloud.  
  
"This has to be the place, and someone obviously did not far well."   
Stated Jupiter as she pointed to the downed trees.  
  
Sailor Moon had not yet noticed that damage, but when she did her   
mind came up with an unpleasant most likely scenario. Mars noticed   
the emotions that began to play across Sailor Moon's face. She knew   
that Sailor Moon had to have made the deduction that it was Mercury   
who had flown through the trees and was likely now captured. She   
moved up next to her princess and wrapped an arm around her to lend   
her some of her own strength. "I'm sure that Mercury is okay." she   
said to Usagi.  
  
The Senshi continued to look around the park area, each in a slight   
daze over the likely result of the battle that they had missed.   
ChibiUsa's voice broke their mourning "Minna, Zoisite left the   
Nijizuishou Crystal!" announced ChibiMoon as she picked up the   
crystal and then brought it to her mother.  
  
"Why would he just leave the crystal here?" asked a confused Venus.  
  
Usagi knew the answer, her earlier run-ins with Mamoru providing the   
clue. "He was enraged. Mercury must have pissed him off and then   
split to buy us time to get here and retrieve the crystal. However,   
she has to be tiring out by now, and she might not be able to make it   
back here. We need to go find her, before she tires out to much." Not   
waiting for the other to respond she turned and leapt out of the park   
in search of Mercury.  
  
********  
The schoolyard  
  
The Shadow Warrior placed that which he was carrying down beside the   
school and turned to face the one who had followed him. "You expect   
to defeat me? You rely on your magic too much and it will do you no   
good. You wish to kill that which is precious to me and for that I   
will kill you."  
  
"You are a traitorous creature and like all demons you will learn to   
obey or be destroyed." Replied Zoisite while firing off a blast at   
the Shadow Warrior.  
  
The blast never hit the warrior. Finishing his declaration of battle   
he vanished into the background. The Shadows tended to favor stealth   
to strength; as such they normally were invisible to the human (or   
near human) eye with their genetically engineered cloaking devices.   
Unlike most of his race, he was a warrior, while nowhere near as   
strong as any individual of the other first race with their   
encounter-suits; he was far stronger than any of the younger races.   
Within a blink of an eye he was beside Zoisite and an attack sent the   
general flying through the sky. His advance on the downed general to   
finish the task was stopped by the arrival of Kunzite.  
  
Taking a look at the downed general, Kunzite released a blast at the   
Shadow Warrior, forcing it to take a defensive position for a moment.   
This was sufficient time for Kunzite to grab the injured Zoisite and   
teleport back to their base. Seeing the threat gone, the Shadow   
returned to where he had placed the confused Mercury down on the   
ground.  
  
"Ryo-chan is that you?" asked Mercury as the demon returned.  
  
First when he spoke, he spoke in his native tong, but quickly   
realized that Mercury could not understand him and switched to   
Japanese. As he did so, memories of his recent life began to surface,   
including what he had looked like. With the little magic that Metalia   
had given him he shifted his body into the glamour of Urawa Ryo. "Yes   
Ami-chan it is me. I do not serve Metalia anymore; I could not bring   
myself to kill you. I am of a race that is far older than even your   
Silver Millennium, but I know that it has lost its way guiding the   
younger races. So, I have decided to live here with you as a member   
of a younger race."  
  
Urawa pulled Ami into a hug and the two remained that way, content to   
know that their troubles for the time were over for the moment. The   
two lovers were still embraced when the others arrived, Ami still   
being in her Senshi form.  
  
"Mercury what happened? Where's the demon?" questioned Sailor Moon.  
  
"It is okay Usagi-san, or should I say Princess Serenity." Stated   
Urawa in response to Usagi's question, and with the last part he   
knelt. "Unlike the previous Shadow Warriors I was able to fully awake   
and not be lost in a lust for energy. I have forsaken my service to   
Metalia and instead wish to give my service to you in guiding the   
younger races of this universe."  
  
The other Senshi were initially shocked with what Urawa had said, not   
the least his knowing about Usagi. Usagi recovered the quickest and   
moved forward to the bowed Urawa. Mentally accepting his pledge of   
service, the cloaking spell was temporarily lifted. Walking forward   
her tiara faded out revealing a crescent moon on her forehead, while   
her Senshi fuku lengthened into a gown. Placing her hand on his   
forehead "Urawa-san I accept your pledge of service to the Silver   
Millennium."   
  
As she finished those words energy flowed through her hand and into   
Urawa. The energy that flowed was partially a healing energy,   
reworking the dark energy given to the warrior by Metalia a thousand   
years ago. As she pulled back her hand a crescent moon flashed   
briefly on his forehead showing his new allegiance before vanishing.   
Having finished the act, Usagi returned to her Senshi form and   
promptly passed out, her system not yet ready to assume its true   
form.  
  
"Don't worry she will be okay, she just needs to rest." Announced Ami   
to the relief of the other Senshi.  
  
With the battle apparently over, the Senshi broke up to head home for   
the evening. Urawa walked a now unhenshin Ami home. Makoto lifted her   
princess up on her back and taking to the roofs took the sleeping   
leader home, while ChibiUsa ran ahead to open the window to Usagi's   
room.  
  
********  
  
From the moon, the ghost of Queen Serenity watched her daughter and   
her court go their separate ways. She knew the prophecy involving her   
daughter, one that predicted the destruction of all that was dear to   
allow the birth of a warrior. She tried to avoid the prophecy during   
her daughter's previous life, hoping that by not training her   
daughter she could prevent the prophecy. But, fate was one thing that   
could not be changed. One could play with time, but fate always won   
in the end.  
  
However, even as her daughter became a stronger warrior, she still   
retained her pure heart, a pureness that only seemed to get brighter   
over time. The way that her daughter had handled the latest Shadow   
Warrior pleased her greatly. As she began to let her spirit go once   
again, she thought that maybe her daughter would be the one to bring   
the shunned Soldier of Destruction into the fold of the Senshi   
instead of banishing her into a timeless sleep till summoned like she   
had.  
  
-End Chapter 11  
  
-For those of you who are B5 fans, with Urawa I was describing   
the Shadows, and the other guiding race would therefore be the   
Vorlons. Urawa would be of the kind of Shadow that was sent to   
execute Kosh. And, I think I am safe in saying that a group of   
beings that can rip through and encounter suit and then kill a   
very powerful energy being would not have much trouble with   
Senshi. As to why the came here in the first place, well those   
two races were always trying to outdo each other. If he were   
there at the dawning of the Third Age, he would have agreed   
with Sheridan's sentiments exactly.  
  
-Yes he still retains the ability to return to his true form.   
For the others, the true form was never fully awakened, and so   
when Sailor Moon healed them their true form was destroyed.   
However, he by being fully awake was able to integrate his two   
lives. He now like the Senshi only pretends to be human.  
  
-For Gundam Wing fans you might recognize my description of   
Urawa's full ability: it is the zero-system. As a Shadow he   
accepted the mission to this Universe knowing from his visions   
that his Shadow-self would be destroyed. But, that did not   
matter, as he no longer desired to be called a Shadow with his   
foreknowledge of what was to come.  
  
-Yippee only one more Shadow Warrior to face. I wonder what   
this dark energy that is floating around might be doing to   
other things, it probably isn't be good. Too bad the Senshi did   
not destroy that Control Droid earlier, though that means Urawa   
would never have fully awakened. Plus I think it's getting near   
time to pull another time traveler crashing back to reality,   
don't you?  
  
-Thanks to Comet Moon for pointing out my many grammatical   
errors in the first version of this chapter. I can't believe   
that I left so many egregious errors in.  
  
-It may be a while till I post the next chapter, my life is   
going to get a bit busy and without classes the motivation to   
write is reduced. But, don't worry the story will be finished.   
The story is also going to need to get complicated again, so I   
will need to plan out how the next set of chapters will go   
before I write them.  
  



	12. Movements of Fire and Shadow

The Fragility of Time  
Chapter 12: "Movements of Fire and Shadow"  
Author: etj4Eagle  
Email: etj4Eagle@yahoo.com  
http://www.geocities.com/etj4eagle  
Lasted Edited: 8/31/00  
  
Disclaimer: A reminder I own none of the characters of this story,   
all rights are owned by others.   
If you distribute the story, do only   
so freely and inform me of where you post it.  
  
_______________________________________  
  
Eudial sat at her computer processing the latest equipment request   
for the professor. He does not want much does he? Some of this will   
be difficult to come by. The professor a couple of weeks ago had   
surprised her with his announcement that he had figured out how to   
open a full sized portal to another bane. However, the operation   
required far more power than Tokyo's power grid could supply. The   
Sacred Cup, revealed by the three talismans is what we need. To   
obtain those talismans he needs to create viable daimon eggs, and to   
do that he will need this equipment. I can funnel some money from the   
various student lab budgets, hopefully that will be enough for our   
supplier.  
  
Getting up she left the office of the recently renamed research group   
Witches 5. She had promised Hotaru that she would take her to the   
park today. Until the professor perfected viable daimon eggs there   
really was not much for the members of Witches 5 to do. She however,   
still had the task of running this school and the lab. The other four   
members of her research group were new additions and were strictly   
tasked to working on the Death Buster Project. They also, like the   
professor's new assistant were very cold hearted and did not take to   
Hotaru well. They seemed to be of the opinion that Hotaru should   
worship her father and not ask for anything. All that she knew was   
that these new people were a bad sign for the future of the professor   
and probably herself as well.  
  
Well enough brooding on work for now. She was taking Hotaru to the   
park and did not want to bother that child with her problems. Might   
as well enjoy this little bit of pleasure, contracting for those   
pieces of equipment was not going to be fun.  
  
********  
The Dark Kingdom  
  
Zoisite left Queen Beryl's throne room glad to be alive. He had   
thought that he was good as dead when he entered. He had lost yet   
another one of the Nijizuishou Crystals and to top it off he had lost   
control of the Shadow Warrior. As it was he had spent the past ten   
days in utter pain. Beryl had apparently been researching her torture   
spells. Exhausted Zoisite flopped onto his bed in the hope that a few   
hours rest would give him the energy he needed to carry out the next   
attack. One crystal left, one more chance.  
  
Kunzite had watched Beryl take her wrath out on Zoisite silently,   
knowing that he could nothing to help him and that any attempts to   
get Beryl to ease up would only bring her wrath down on himself as   
well. Instead he began to formulate a plan for obtaining the crystals   
that the Senshi held. After Zoisite left he addressed his queen "My   
liege, I think I know of a way to get the crystals held by Sailor   
Moon." With that he began to outline his plan.  
  
"You have my permission to set it up. Just remember that you better   
not fail here. You know what will happen if Serenity gets her grubby   
hands on the Ginzuishou." replied Beryl after he had finished.  
  
*********  
A movie theater  
  
Mamoru sat in the movie theatre with his arm around his girlfriend. A   
few weeks ago he would have laughed at the absurd notion that he   
would not only be dating the odango-atama, but to be in love with her   
as well. But, that was exactly the case. Whereas the rest of his life   
seemed to be a mass of uncertainties and questions, this was   
something that he was sure of. Additionally he felt a strong sense of   
reassurance being with her, as if through her the rest of his life   
would come into focus. And wasn't that just what began to happen that   
night recently when he brought her back to his apartment and learned   
about her alter ego and in the process about his as well.  
  
"Mamo-chan what are thinking about?" asked Usagi as she noticed that   
he appeared to be distracted.  
  
"Just about my life and how you seem to be the only thing that I am   
sure of and makes sense." he replied while wrapping his arm around   
her shoulder.  
  
Usagi did not have anything to reply to this and instead just laid   
her head down on his chest, perfectly content to just be in the same   
room as him. He gave his little rabbit a peck on the back of her head   
before turning his attention back to the movie.  
  
*********  
Elsewhere in the city  
  
Eudial walked the now tired Hotaru home. She had lost track of the   
time when she had brought the child here to the park, and was quite   
surprised to discover that it was after eight when she had recently   
looked at her watch. Her original plan was just to head home when   
Hotaru wore herself out, which unfortunately usually did not take   
that long. However, today she had kept going for three hours. And,   
those weren't sedate hours either, she had spent a large amount of it   
running around.   
  
Eudial did not know why the little one was suddenly feeling better,   
but it made her happy. The professor would be pleased to hear that   
his daughter had not run out of energy while at the park today. Yes,   
Hotaru was now tired, but that was more of the normal exhaustion that   
befalls a child, than one associated with her sickliness. Looking at   
the child walking next to her, she noticed that Hotaru's skin did not   
seem so pale today either.  
  
"Eudial-san what are you doing out so late, you know that Hotaru is   
not allowed out late." came an annoyed voice.  
  
Turning Eudial addressed the voice's owner. "I was only letting   
Hotaru enjoy the park, Tomoe-sensei would approve of me letting her   
spend extra time here as she is feeling much better today. "  
  
"Even so you have duties to attend to, I will take Hotaru home for   
you." replied the other woman.  
  
Turning Eudial addressed her charge "Hotaru-chan you head on home   
with Kaolinite-san, I have to run some errands for you father. Gomen   
Nasai"  
  
As Eudial watch Kaolinite walk away with Hotaru she felt her body   
shiver for a moment. She did not like seeing Hotaru with the   
professor's new aid, or for that matter with any of the other members   
of Witches 5, as they seemed to go out of their way to deflate her   
happiness. She would have to make it up to Hotaru later, but now she   
had to run that errand for the professor. Kaolinite was right in that   
she did have things that she had to accomplish, ones that she should   
not have let her taking of Hotaru to the park to get in the way of.   
But, she had not expected Hotaru to last this long before being ready   
to go home. Now to find that Mr. Jones: a gaijen name for one who   
dealt with those harder to find items.  
  
*********  
Approximately 9:30 pm  
  
With the movie over, Mamoru had driven Usagi home. Now as he left her   
house his head was once again swimming with confusion, and of course   
in the center of everything was his rabbit. Both when he had picked   
Usagi up and dropped her off, he had the distinct feeling that her   
father was going to kill/strangle/mangle him for dating Usagi (for   
which he could not fault him). But, for whatever reason he showed a   
remarkable restraint. Though that restraint seemed to be partially a   
result of a certain pink haired child in the room who kept her eye on   
Tsukino Kenji.  
  
Usagi's mother seemed nice enough. Though he had the distinct   
impression that she was sizing him up for eventual marriage to her   
daughter. Not that he wouldn't like that, but it was just a tad bit   
too early in their relationship to be talking about that kind of   
commitment. In addition through the whole exchange with her family he   
additionally had the feeling that he was missing out on something   
that they all knew.  
  
His life ever since he ran into the girl had suddenly been full of   
questions. At first it was just a sudden disgust with his childhood   
amnesia, and then it was dreams and unexplained memory loss. But   
whenever he was with that girl, those problems and worries seemed to   
fade and he was content with what he had, and he was becoming happier   
with life in general. Whistling softly to himself he shifted his car   
into gear and headed home.  
  
*********  
A warehouse  
  
Rubeus, unsure exactly why, pulled out the Dark Crystal fragment.   
Examining the crystal he saw it pulsing with power, far more power   
than it should have had at been able to gather by this time. Ahead of   
him bound on the ground sat a businessman who had tried to cheat the   
organization out of its money. Dismissing his soldiers (they might   
not technically be soldiers, but after training them himself he liked   
to think of his men as soldiers) he approached the bound figure of   
the gentleman.  
  
The individual was dressed in an expensive business suit, and tried   
to put on an air of confidence, but the man's fear still showed   
through. Rubeus needed answers and this man would provide him with   
the means. Like all mages he had some training in the blood arts.   
Normally blood magic was less useful than other manna sources, but   
sometimes that is all one had, and this was one of those cases.   
Pulling back his hood, his face became fully visible to the bound man   
for the first time.  
  
The man had till this point managed to pretty much maintain his calm,   
but after looking into his executioner's eyes and seeing the pure   
evil there, which was accentuated by the down turned black crescent   
moon on the guy's forehead he completely lost his cool. As he pleaded   
for forgiveness and mercy an invisible hand grasped his body and then   
penetrated it, and as it did he felt his energy being forcibly   
removed. As the body slumped to the ground a dimly glowing banged up   
crystal appeared in front of his chest and then floated to Rubeus's   
outstretched hand.  
  
Grasping the pure heart crystal Rubeus slumped to the ground   
exhausted from the extraction. Not a very smooth attempt, I probably   
lost most of its energy, but it should be sufficient and it was a   
good first attempt. I will have to wait till I am rested to use its   
energy. Pocketing the crystal he pulled the hood back on and walked   
outside the building and joined the others. Sometime later that week   
a cleaning crew would find the body of the businessman. While the   
cause of death would be attributed to natural causes, the general   
consensus would be that he had gotten himself involved with the wrong   
people and had paid the price, as attributed the look of pure horror   
on his face.  
  
Driving for a while Rubeus came to a different part of Tokyo, where   
he had one final appointment for the evening. Walking up to a   
particular tree in the park he approached a woman wearing a lab coat.   
"Evening ma'am is there anything I can help you with?" he asked in   
perfect English, even with a slight British accent.  
  
Recognizing the code, Eudial responded "Je ne parle pas anglais.   
Parlez-vous anglais?" Her contradictory statement in French was the   
single that she was the customer that he was to meet. Pulling   
something out from her lab coat pocket she handed to him an envelope.   
"Merci, monsieur." She replied after handing him the packet and   
proceeded to walk away. Rubeus placed the packet in his own coat   
pocket and returned to where the others were waiting.  
  
Eudial felt glad to be away from the "Mr. Jones," she longed for her   
na‹ve days as just a simple grad student. Seeing the bus approach she   
hurried so that she would not miss it. Only after she was safely on   
it and it had traveled for a few minutes did her apprehension of   
dealing with Mr. Jones fully fade away.  
  
*********  
  
In the back of the car, while one of his men drove, Rubeus open the   
envelope and looked at its contents. The envelope contained exactly   
two pieces of paper, a small strip with a number on it (for a Swiss   
bank account) and the other shopping list of needed equipment.   
Glancing over the requested items he did not recognize most of the   
items, though some of them he seemed to remember being things that   
Sapphire had in his lab back on Nemesis. Putting the two items back   
away he relaxed and enjoyed the ride back to his current base of   
operations.  
  
*********  
Nazareth, Israel  
  
Father Morgan thanked the driver and stepped away from the car that   
had brought him here from Jerusalem. Looking around he could feel the   
holiness of this place penetrating his bones. Before Tsukino Usagi   
had come into his life he had always felt a slight repulsion whenever   
he visited the high holy places, a repulsion that he always knew was   
related to the streak of darkness in his soul.  
  
But now that he was here he had questions that needed to be answered.   
Three days ago he had given up on his own meditations and prayers   
back in Tokyo to puzzle out what the Lord wanted him to do. Hoping   
that a pilgrimage would help, he had booked passage here to Israel.  
  
After checking in to his lodging he went back out onto the streets.   
Not sure where to go, he instead opened his soul to the land and let   
it guide him. Finished walking he found himself in the middle of a   
field, kneeling down he began to say prayers asking his Lord for   
guidance.  
  
Guidance did not come quickly, it rarely did. As the minutes turned   
into hours he began to become aware of the residual energy, which   
made this place so holy. He felt the energy, it was similar but at   
the same time very different from that of the Tsukino girl. The best   
way he could describe it was that there was a family resemblance in   
the energy. He had expected to find the same residue aura here that   
the Tsukino girl gave off. If they were not the same, then was she   
not the return of the Messiah?  
  
But, when he was in her presence he was sure that she was the   
Messiah, and the energy that he felt from her was far stronger than   
what ever left this aura. And, further he was sure that he was not   
feeling her full aura, in that she had not truly awakened yet.   
Continuing to seek answers he remained in meditation and prayer as   
the sun went down. At some point, he was not sure when, those   
questions and uncertainties began to fade away to be replaced with   
the assurance that he was doing the right thing and the familiar   
tingling of the Tsukino girl's aura, except on a much lower level.  
  
There is nothing more that I can accomplish here, but there is a   
place where I should be able to find answers. He thought while   
standing. As he walked back to the inn where he was spending the   
night, he looked up at the sky and noticed the full moon shining down   
on him with a protective warmth.  
  
*********  
Tokyo ~11AM  
  
Zoisite teleported above the skyline to begin his search for the   
final crystal carrier. Luck was with him today, as below him was the   
final suppressed Shadow Warrior. Noticing this he moved down to   
intercept the girl.  
  
Yumemi looked up just as Zoisite touched ground in front of her. She   
instantly felt fear to be in the presence of this man, a subconscious   
fear from her paintings of the Silver Millennium. "What do you want?"   
she managed to croak out.  
  
"Why nothing more than your service to our great leader and that   
Nijizuishou crystal that you have."  
  
"What crystal?" Yumemi tried to ask, but before she could ask the   
full question she was caught by a burst of energy from the crystal   
that Zoisite held. Instead her question became a scream of pain as   
the transformation process racked through her body.  
  
Nearby a couple heard the scream, but unlike others they did not dart   
away for their lives. Instead they ducked into a corner and out   
walked the Senshi of Neptune and Uranus. Not waiting for lengthy   
introductions they introduced themselves simply with 'Deep Submerge'   
and 'World Shaking.' The two attacks blasted into Zoisite causing the   
now extracted crystal to fall to the ground. However, they were not   
in time enough to prevent the final awakening of the Shadow Warrior.   
With a telepathic scream, a creature of destruction with a pure black   
heart awoke. Seeing prey it smiled and then leapt at the two Senshi.  
  
Uranus's last thought before she was flung like a rag doll against a   
building and coming out on the other side was that this does not look   
good. Neptune retaliated with a Deep Submerge, but the creature   
sliced the blast of water with its claws dispersing it. It then   
proceeded to retaliate with a blast of dark energy of its own.   
Neptune leapt to dodge the attack, but as she landed she found   
herself at point blank range with the creature. Before she could do   
anything, it grabbed her by the neck and brought its other arm back   
in preparation for slicing open her chest.  
  
*********  
A public library  
  
Urawa had decided to head off to the library this morning to get some   
work done on his research project before his date with Ami-chan that   
evening. He was removing a book from the shelves when the telepathic   
scream of an awakening Shadow echoed through his mind and everyone   
else's in the area. Whereas the other patrons clamped their hands   
over their ears in an attempt to block the sound, he gave a reply   
scream as his body shifted to that of his true form.  
  
The warrior also known as Urawa with a glowing golden crescent moon   
on its forehead phased out of the visible and passed out of the   
building heading towards its awakening brother warrior. Memories came   
back of the warrior who was now awakening and he telepathically   
called it by name urging it to wait for his arrival. However, his   
mental calls only met rage and confused thoughts. Expecting a fight,   
his gift activated. The first set of images to flood his mind were   
those of Neptune and Uranus dieing a brutal death. The first image   
was that of his brother warrior slicing open the aqua haired warrior   
chest, spilling her insides. The second was of the warrior then   
grasping the semiconscious blond warrior and ramming her head back   
into a wall, finishing off that job.  
  
The brutal deaths of his allies caused him to run even faster. As he   
ran the images shifted to show Zoisite reviving the Shadow Warrior,   
but not before he put a mind control spell on it. She was too weak   
having just awoken; her mind was now fully his. The only way to break   
the spell will to be to kill her true self like the others. Urawa   
continued to run, even though he knew that the only happy ending to   
the battle would leave him as the only Shadow Warrior alive. He had   
already partially steeled himself for this outcome, as he knew that   
she would probably not agree with his assessment of the situation.   
But with that mind control, which was obviously a spell of Metalia,   
he knew that there was no way to save her entire soul. Instead the   
darkness and all associated with it would have to be plucked out from   
her body, the death of 657 years of life of a good friend and comrade   
of his. But, he had prepared himself once before for this eventuality   
when he volunteered for what he knew to be a suicide mission (though   
everyone else thought it to be a cake walk).  
  
Arriving at the scene, Urawa phased back into the visible, becoming   
solid once again. Speaking in the high-pitch high-speed language of   
his people he called to the other. She discarded for a moment her   
target and turned to regard the one who dare challenge her.  
  
"Ah, so you live too [Urawa]. What is with that mark on your   
forehead, have you sworn allegiance to our enemies? You were the last   
I thought to turn traitor, but if you have you will die."  
  
"[Yumemi] do not do this. You are not a servant of Beryl or Metalia;   
we are guardians of the younger races. We work for the First One in   
his task of guiding them to their third age. Metalia cares nothing of   
this younger race; she only wants to use them as an energy source so   
that she can seek her revenge on another. Join with me and we can   
continue to guide this race."  
  
Laughing the being that was once Yumemi replied, "[Urawa] you are but   
a fool. Methinks that though art but a Vorlon in disguise. You know   
that the only way to help these races is though war and battle:   
survival of the fittest. We destroyed that vorloneseque empire that   
ruled this system the last time. But, they managed to somehow send   
their warriors to be reborn, now we have to destroy them again."  
  
Urawa decided that reasoning with his comrade any further would be   
useless. The mind control spell had blinded her to Metalia's real   
objectives. The being that was Yumemi still thought she could control   
Metalia, but Urawa knew otherwise. He also knew that both control and   
discord were necessary to help the younger races, the reason why both   
the Vorlons and Shadows were given the task.  
  
"I take it that you will not yield, even to your superior. Therefore   
in the name of the Silver Millennium I will force you to yield." With   
those words the two warriors charged each other and began battle.   
While Yumemi is a stronger warrior, Urawa's gift would provide him a   
major advantage.  
  
*********  
  
Zoisite had watched the pending death of those two newer Sailor   
Senshi with glee. He had already moved and gathered the Nijizuishou   
Crystal that they had forced him to drop. He was about to tell his   
warrior to finish Neptune off when the warrior suddenly threw the   
Senshi of the sea to the ground. Irate he turned to see what had   
gotten his warriors attention and saw the other Shadow Warrior. Just   
great, everything is going good and then that thing has to show up.   
Its treason is more than obvious now with the crest of the Moon   
Kingdom glowing on its forehead.  
  
As the two warriors confronted each other, each emitted a series of   
high-pitched squeals lasting no more than a few seconds each. And,   
then after only facing each other for under a minute they began to   
fight, their entire conversation having taken no more than twenty   
seconds. Zoisite watched the battle trying to see how he could aid   
his warrior, but saw no opening. Instead, he turned and walked back   
to where Sailor Neptune had been discarded to finish her and her   
friend off.  
  
"Well, Well it looks like this is the end of the road for you."   
stated Zoisite as he gathered energy in his hands in preparation to   
finish off Neptune. Neptune herself looked up through her bloodied   
eyes to see her executioner. She attempted to lift her body, but did   
not have the strength. I am sorry my Queen, I have failed in my task   
of protecting your daughter. were her final thoughts.  
  
"Venus Crescent Beam Smash!" and a beam of energy burned its way   
across Zoisite's hands. Recoiling in pain he turned to address the   
one who dared interrupt the execution. "Don't you know it's not nice   
to hit someone who is down. Why don't you try us instead." called   
Venus.  
  
"In the name of Jupiter and Venus we will punish you!" announced the   
two new arrivals to the scene.  
  
"Jupiter Supreme Thunder." And a ball of lighting gathered around   
Jupiter and then sped towards the still recovering Zoisite.  
  
"You never want to let your rear guard down, Sailor twerps."   
Announced Kunzite as he appeared behind the Senshi and blasted both   
from the rear. After hitting the ground the two quickly recovered and   
took defensive stances between the two generals and the downed   
Senshi.  
  
Unwatched by the other participants the two Shadow Warriors continued   
their battle. But, it was now becoming obvious that Urawa was going   
to win the fight. The superior tactics that his gift gave him   
provided him with the edge he needed. Releasing a blast of his   
limited magic reserves he sent the other warrior sailing through the   
sky to land near the generals. Advancing forward, his right hand, now   
with its claws extended, began to glow a soft violet aura that   
extended and turned into the black of death. The energy wavered and   
flickered on his arm, much the way it would along the Sailor Senshi   
when they learned to teleport or use the Sailor Planet Attack.  
  
"Yield [Yumemi] or I shall destroy you." he announced this time in   
Japanese. The other creature snarled and prepared to leap in a   
suicidal last-ditch attempt to take down Urawa. However, Kunzite   
prevented that by teleporting the three of them back to the Dark   
Kingdom. He might have stayed, but he had noticed out of the corner   
of his eye at that moment the arrival of the three remaining Senshi   
and that pipsqueak.  
  
"Is everyone ok?" asked Moon as she arrived.  
  
Venus moved to point out the two fallen Senshi, but as she looked at   
where they had been she saw nothing. "Huh?" she asked.  
  
"Boy, talk about endurance. A moment ago those two were out cold and   
now they are five blocks down. You know they could have at least   
allowed us to help tend their wounds." said a slightly annoyed   
Jupiter. However, she was more relived that they were ok, and pulling   
pig headed stunts like that was a sure indication that there was   
nothing seriously wrong with those two, at least not physically maybe   
mentally.  
  
As the Senshi returned to the civilian forms, Urawa reapplied his   
glamour. With Urawa back in a human form Usagi gave an audible sigh   
of relief. "Way to go Odango-Atama." announced ChibiUsa.  
  
Realizing what she had just done, her cheeks turned pink as a hand   
went behind her head. "Sorry about that Urawa-san, it is just that   
you true form still gives me the creeps even if you have sworn   
allegiance to me and my throne."  
  
"It is ok Usagi-san, I am sure that if I was in your place I would   
feel the same way." reassured Urawa. "However, we have a problem.   
Zoisite and Kunzite left with an awaken Shadow Warrior. I have probed   
his mind, and there is no way we can turn him from the path he has   
chosen. None of you except for possibly the princess are capable of   
facing her alone or even as a group."  
  
The assembled group of warriors gulped at that frank announcement of   
their chances. Sedate the group moved to return to the activities   
that their duty had called them away from.  
  
*********  
A plush condo  
  
Through his service over the past few months Rubeus had earned a nice   
comfortable condo to live in. Last night had been a busy night.   
Apparently the buyer he had met was an important client to the   
association, and so he had been sent to deliver various elements of   
the order to different parts of the association. It amused him that   
this group he was associated with had the ability to import reactor   
grade plutonium, and 5g at that. Their influence was obviously fairly   
deep. Not for the first time did he wonder if after eliminating the   
Moon lineage he should aid these fellows in shaping society.  
  
However, those were questions for another time. Now he had more   
important answers to find, why the Dark Crystal was suddenly coming   
to life much faster than he had predicted. Pulling out the pure heart   
crystal that he had collected last night he crushed it in the palm of   
his hand and felt the corresponding rush as the energy flowed into   
his body.  
  
Pulling out the Dark Crystal fragment he let it float in front of his   
body for a few moments. After it had steadied itself he focused his   
attention and energy on it, forming a link between it and himself. As   
the energy flowed into the crystal it glowed brighter and then it was   
a fragment no longer, but a solid crystal. As a full crystal its   
powers were increased by orders of magnitude and it pulsed back at   
Rubeus and then his conscience was part of the crystal.  
  
Where am I? thought Rubeus as the blinding flash   
cleared. No longer was he in his condo. Instead he was in   
a location that swirled in the black and dark violet. As   
his eyes becoming more adapted to his surroundings he   
noted that in the distance there appeared to be flat   
angled surfaces. Turning his head to take in the whole   
area he realized that the angled surfaces extended all   
around him, above and below him.  
  
"You are in the Dark Crystal." came a familiar voice.   
Moments after the voice was heard, a figure became   
apparent in the mist that was enclosed in the crystal.  
  
"Wise Man, but I thought you had been destroyed by the   
time shift?"  
  
"No, nothing so simple could destroy me. All the others   
were lost, yes. But, I saw the approaching temporal blast   
and was able to take the necessary steps to protect   
myself. However, those steps have placed me here in the   
fabric of the multiverse itself.  
  
"Now that the crystal is strong enough, I can contact   
you. As to why it is suddenly stronger, you can thank   
your droids. A while back one of your control droids was   
damaged in a battle, so it has been leaking dark energy   
ever since."  
  
"Thereby providing the crystal with its needed energy   
source." concluded Rubeus.  
  
"Exactly. Even before now I could see what was happening   
in your plane. However, I have to say that killing the   
Neo-Queen will be harder than we initially thought. She   
is going to be far more powerful. And, until I can return   
to your plane I cannot help you. However, you recently   
were given the method of giving me passage back."  
  
"How?" questioned Rubeus.  
  
"There is a group preparing to bring a demon known as   
Pharaoh 90 across into this galaxy. With only slight   
modifications I will be able to cross instead. Two of its   
followers have already crossed into this galaxy and have   
possessed humans. Place these shards in their body and   
those daimons will be neutralized and I will be able to   
return."  
  
Rubeus grasped the two shards of black crystal that the   
Wise Man held out to him. As he did so the scene vanished   
to be replaced by that of his living room.   
  
*********  
A plane over the Mediterranean  
  
While Rubeus was seeking answers from the Dark Crystal, Father Morgan   
was continuing his search for answers. Having decided that the holy   
land revealed all that it was going to he had booked a flight to   
Rome, Italy. Lying back in his chair while the plane crossed the   
Mediterranean he once again contemplated what had become of his   
otherwise peaceful life.  
  
His trip to the birthplace of his Lord did not reveal to him any   
clues to the approaching future. However, he had found reassurance   
there that he was proceeding correctly, and that he was to be part of   
the Messiah's return. He just now had to figure out where he figured   
in her return. Yes, the trip had also convinced him beyond a doubt   
that Tsukino Usagi was the Messiah.   
  
He now headed towards Rome in hopes of getting an audience with the   
Vatican. Even if his faith did not recognize the pope as the leader   
of all Christians, he was not so arrogant to believe that the Messiah   
would confine her return to just one faith. The Vatican would have to   
have detected indications of the Messiah's return, and would be able   
to help him to discern what his rule in her return.  
  
Additionally the Vatican held vast numbers of ancient texts dating   
from the birth of their Lord. Even if they had not yet learned of her   
pending return, the texts they had would help guide them in preparing   
their flock for the Shepard's return. The only uncertainty that he   
saw in his plan at the moment (one that did not extend that far into   
the future) was getting an audience with the Vatican in the first   
place. He had not followed proper channels by letting his superiors   
in the church now of his revelation, instead he had sought out to   
verify it himself, and now he was going to attempt to get an audience   
with the very top ranks of the Catholic church.   
  
Seeking reassurance of his path he meditated on the aura he felt   
during Usagi-sama's transformation. Gaining strength from the   
meditation he did not notice the passing of time and was a bit   
surprised to feel the jolt of the plane touching down. Looking out   
the window he saw the shiny sky of Italy. With his refound strength   
of his next task he got up getting his bags and moved to join the   
crowd leaving the plane.  
  
"Father Morgan this way please." called out a teenaged boy as he left   
the plane. Turning he examined the lad, quite surprised to find   
anyone waiting for him. He did not think he had told anyone of his   
travel plans. "Let me help you with your bags."  
  
Morgan followed behind the lad and was quickly ushered through   
customs. The lad was dressed in a simple outfit, tailored nicely. The   
only thing distinctive about it was a large cross hanging by a chain   
around his neck. "If I might ask, how do you know my name, and where   
are we going?"  
  
The lad paused for a moment, realizing that he had forgotten the   
introductions. "My name is not important, as I am only a simple   
courier. But, as to where you are going, you already know that. The   
rumors about the depth of the Vatican's intelligence network are   
true, and we have been expecting you. That is all I know and all you   
need to know for now, you did come here wanting an audience with   
Vatican?" Not waiting for an answer, the lad continued walking.  
  
Well that solves that problem of getting an audience. Deciding not   
to question the lad further, Morgan moved to follow his guide who had   
pulled a bit ahead. The two quickly arrived at a waiting car. The lad   
placed Morgan's bags in the rear while its driver helped Morgan   
himself into the car. And, then they were off into Rome itself, this   
having been one of the quickest airport departures that he had   
experienced ever.  
  
*********  
A car ride later  
  
Arriving at the Vatican, Father Morgan was ushered into an   
archbishop's office. "Greeting Morgan, I am Sebastian. What brings   
you all the way from Tokyo first to the holy cities and then here to   
Rome on the spur of the moment?"  
  
"Father look at my soul. Until recently it was stained by an evil   
that could not be healed by any in my church. Not even baptism could   
forgive the sin that I was born with. However, a few weeks ago a   
teenage girl came into my meager church and healed me of this sin.  
  
"I do not know how much you know about the Sailor Soldiers, but this   
girl turned out to be their leader, Sailor Moon. But, this is not   
what caused me to come here, that cause was what I saw when she   
changed from her civilian form to her Soldier form. Between those two   
forms I saw hidden an angel of infinite pureness. Father this girl is   
the Messiah; The Second Coming is upon us.  
  
"From the moment I glimpsed her true form I felt that the world's   
salvation was at hand. Now after taking a pilgrimage to the holy   
cities, I am certain that she is the Messiah, the second coming of   
our Lord. One thing that I became sure of when I was in her presence   
was that we have been wrong about the Second Coming. Judgment day is   
not upon us, but instead it is time for mankind's sins to be cleansed   
so that the Kingdom of Heaven may be brought here to earth."  
  
The archbishop regarded the priest from Tokyo and absorbed what he   
had said. "Father Morgan I will need some time to talk with others   
about your discovery. Let me tell you this though, this is not the   
first time beings calling themselves Sailor Soldiers have been seen   
on the earth. Our Lord, Jesus Christ, had an encounter with two of   
them.  
  
"You are also probably tired from your trip. Why don't I have you   
shown to your room, and tomorrow we can continue this discussion. In   
the morning I will have sent to your room some material that you may   
find enlightening."  
  
As Morgan left the room a wall opened up and out walk three others.   
"It has begun" replied one of the three.  
  
"Yes it has, that is without a doubt. We have held a great secret   
since the founding of the church, but with the true awakening of the   
Messiah the truth will come out. The people will need to be prepared.   
The fulfillment of prophecy is upon us, the Moon Kingdom and the   
Silver Millennium will rise once again." replied Sebastian  
  
-End Chapter 12  
  
-As I promised things are beginning to pick up again. With   
Urawa's pledge of allegiance to the Silver Millennium, I have   
placed his limited magic abilities into one of the eight   
planets' range. If you did not figure out which planet he now   
serves with his allegiance, you will by the end of the next   
chapter.  
  
-Like the S season this chapter did start to hit some of those   
religious motifs. I hope that I did not really offend anyone,   
but one reason for this is an attempt to pull the Sailor Moon   
universe closer into ours. I am portraying Jesus of Nazareth in   
this chapter and the next with attributes of the Arabic view   
(in which he is just one of the great profits) and the   
Christian view where is the savoir.  
  
-We know from S, that Serenity is the Messiah of Light. My own   
view as to why she could not fully handle the power of the   
Grail was that she was not yet ready for that power. In Stars,   
at first she cannot handle her eternal form for long.  
  
-When the two Shadows were conversing I wrote their human names   
enclosed in brackets. They actually spoke their true names, but   
those names are unpronounceable to humans.  
  
-You might be wondering why I have referred to the Sailor   
Senshi as Sailor Soldiers in some places. Sailor Senshi is   
their Japanese name, but I doubt that was what they were called   
back in the Silver Millennium. So for those who are not   
speaking Japanese I will fully translate their name into   
English.  
  
-I named the priest Morgan as homage to a protestant chaplain   
whom I have known from camp for a few years. He has some very   
nice weather-war related stories. I have not found reference to   
the name of the priest who carried a Nijizuishou Crystal, so I   
have named him Morgan.  
  
-Sebastian is another B5 reference, he was Jack the Reaper, and   
is now doing penance as the Inquisitor for the Vorlons;   
searching for the one who really is the chosen one. Urawa's   
Shadow Warrior self-thoughts are based on the main theme   
running through the Shadow war in Babylon 5.  
  
-And it looks like Hotaru's life of being a possessed victim is   
just going to get even more interesting with those shards that   
Rubeus holds.  
  



	13. Ceremonies of Light and Dark

The Fragility of Time  
Chapter 13: "Ceremonies of Light and Dark"  
Author: etj4Eagle  
Email: etj4Eagle@yahoo.com  
http://www.geocities.com/etj4eagle  
Lasted Edited: 9/9/00  
  
Disclaimer: A reminder I own none of the characters of this story,   
all rights are owned by others.   
If you distribute the story, do only   
so freely and inform me of where you post it.  
  
_______________________________________  
  
"Well done Zoisite, you have managed to actually accomplish your   
mission for once." stated Beryl. "Now we only need to recapture the   
Nijizuishou Crystals that you have lost. Kunzite has a plan and you   
will assist. Understand that if you two fail, my wrath will know no   
bounds. You are dismissed."  
  
Zoisite bowed to his queen and left her audience, Kunzite followed   
him out of the throne chamber. "What is this plan that you have   
Kunzite?" asked Zoisite.  
  
"I have been researching the various attacks that Sailor Moon has   
been involved in looking for leverage against her; something that we   
could nab which would force her to come face us on our own terms.   
There is a certain pink haired child, which a few months ago Sailor   
Moon rescued. From what I have gathered her actions showed that she   
is very attached to that child."  
  
"And if we nab her, we can get Sailor Moon to give us the Nijizuishou   
crystals." finished Zoisite.  
  
"Exactly. The Shadow Warrior will get us the child and bring Sailor   
Moon to us."  
  
********  
Rome Italy 9:30 AM  
  
Morgan walked towards his meeting with other members of the church   
escorted by a young lad dressed similar to the one who picked him up   
at the airport the other day. While waiting to be fetched, he had   
taken the time this morning to read the material that Sebastian had   
dropped of for him. Unfortunately the material that Sebastian had   
provided was fairly meager. Essentially it amounted to descriptions   
of two angels, described as such because they had appeared out of   
thin air. While it appeared that Jesus of Nazareth must have   
conversed with them, the context of that exchange was not in   
contained in the documents.  
  
What the documents described as two angels were obviously two of the   
Sailor Soldiers. One was dressed in an orange-outfitted uniform with   
a very short mini-skirt and the other a similar uniform with dark   
purple colorings who also carried a long pole arm topped with a   
curved blade. He recognized the first as Sailor Venus from the Sailor   
Senshi in Tokyo. However, the other he did not recognize. The   
documents went on to describe subjective feelings that were gotten   
from those two warriors. The first was that of love and boundless   
energy. The other warrior apparently caused those with Jesus to feel   
a chill and believe that they were looking at death.  
  
The lad brought him up to a large ornate door and knocked. Upon being   
acknowledged the lad opened the door for Morgan and then closing the   
door left. Morgan had expected to walk into an office like the one   
that he was in the other day, but this room while elaborate,   
definitely felt out of place in this building. Instead this felt like   
a nation's war room, as one wall was filled with various flat panel   
monitors and the spaces at the table were equipped with computer   
equipment.  
  
Sebastian rose to greet Morgan. "Come on in and have a seat." Moving   
his arm to indicate the room he continued, "As you can see we take   
our task of preparing for the Second Coming and acting as the   
spiritual leaders of our faithful very seriously. Allow me to   
introduce the others: this is Kosh, Sinclair, and Garibaldi." he said   
while pointing to the each of the other three archbishops in turn.   
None of the members of the room were very descript in their   
appearances.  
  
"I am sure that you understand that what we are about to tell you is   
of a very sensitive nature, and that you cannot reveal what you learn   
till it is time." stated Garibaldi.  
  
"Of course, doing so would not be in the Messiah's desires at this   
time." replied Morgan.  
  
"You need to understand that the church has held a secret for nearly   
two millennia. The secret has till now only been known by the most   
inner circle of archbishops and the pope himself. The trial of   
Galileo is an example of how deeply held this secret has been. He was   
tried not so much for postulating that the earth was not the center   
of the universe, but that he came too close to gathering the real   
truth about our solar system: that once a kingdom known as the Silver   
Millennium existed." began Sebastian  
  
"The Sailor Soldiers that now protect the people of Tokyo are the   
fulfillment of prophecy: the return of the Moon Kingdom." continued   
Kosh. "You see these warriors are the very same warriors who died a   
thousand years ago protecting their kingdom from an army of Tehrans   
led by the devil incarnate. You already know that you were one of   
demons who fought against the Sailor Soldiers."  
  
"How do you know this?" asked Morgan.  
  
Sinclair replied "There have been numerous sources for our   
information. You already have gotten a glimpse of one of them. We   
also have had seerers over the ages give accountings, artifacts   
recovered some of which are non-Tehran in origin. And finally   
appearances of this woman." Finishing the final statement Sinclair   
pushed a button and an image of a silver haired elegant woman with a   
golden crescent moon on her forehead appeared.  
  
"Her name is Queen Serenity, the last ruler of the Silver Millennium   
an empire that included all planets in the Sol system except for the   
earth. The Moon Kingdom, our moon, ruled it. Following the fall of   
her kingdom she sent her daughter and her royal guard here into the   
future to be reborn."  
  
Making a connection Morgan continued, "Then the Tsukino girl is not   
only Sailor Moon and the Messiah, but the heir to this kingdom as   
well."  
  
"Are you sure, we have not seen any basis that the one known as   
Sailor Moon is Princess Serenity." questioned Garibaldi.  
  
"Yes she is. I can't really describe how I know, only that it was   
contained in her aura."  
  
"Very well, that solves part of the prophecy, Kosh if you please."   
replied Sinclair  
  
"Of course. This here is an accounting of the confrontation between   
Jesus of Nazareth and two of the Sailor Soldiers." Kosh said while   
handing Morgan an electronic pad. Taking hold of it Morgan began to   
read.  
  
********  
Somewhere in what is now Israel ~30AD  
  
A man called by those who listened to his teachings to be a prophet,   
who had earlier been nothing more than a carpenter, walked through a   
patch of wooded land with some of his followers. The three of them   
were on their way to a town to meet with others who followed his   
teachings. Sensing something Jesus of Nazareth stopped and turned. To   
his and his companions astonishment two balls of light appeared and   
quickly coalesced into human forms.  
  
In front of them now stood two young ladies, dressed in the skimpiest   
attire any of the three had ever seen. A look at their eyes and   
stance they stood in, quickly negated any thoughts of them being   
tramps. In fact the one who wore a very dark violet mini-skirt   
emanated a quality, which instantly instilled fear in the man's   
followers, causing them to quickly shrink behind him.  
  
Jesus not fearing the newcomers stepped foreword, but was quickly   
brought up short as one of the two called forth a long pole arm   
tipped with a blade and placed its tip before his throat.  
  
"I would not try anything human, though we are not quite sure about   
that part for you. I suggest you not do anything to give Sailor   
Saturn a reason to use her Silence Glaive. Nothing can block it, and   
it is always lethal. Allow me to introduce ourselves. I am the   
commander of the Sailor Soldiers of the Sol System, Sailor Venus;   
this here is the Warrior of Death and Destruction, Sailor Saturn.  
  
"The Silver Millennium watches over the people of this planet,   
protecting them. You are not a true Tehran. The penalty for   
interfering with Tehran development is death. Explain yourself or   
Saturn will finish her task."  
  
As if to emphasize the last point the blade of the Silence Glaive   
started to glow with a violet light. "I sleep until needed, as my   
powers are those of destruction. Your arrival on this planet awoke   
me." added Saturn.  
  
"My name is Jesus of Nazareth. I am a messenger sent here by my   
father. Your awakening Saturn was not to terminate me, but so that   
you could bring back to Queen Serenity a prophecy.  
  
"Soon the last full blooded moon princess will be born. She will be   
the strongest warrior this universe has ever seen. It will be her who   
will end forever the Sailor Wars. But, before that can happen she   
will be strengthened by fire, everything that she holds dear will be   
ripped away and lost. A mighty kingdom will turn to dust only to rise   
again.  
  
"I am here to set in motion the cleansing of the Tehran soul. Tehrans   
will before the true Messiah ascends the throne join the Silver   
Millennium. But, before that can occur their sins need to be taken up   
and forgiven. Only then will a Tehran be born whose soul is that of   
the planet."  
  
"You speak of the rise of another Sailor Soldier: Sailor Earth."   
stated Venus.  
  
"Not quite Princess Venus. I do speak of the rise of another powerful   
Soldier, but not a Sailor Soldier. There however will be before the   
end of your term as a Sailor Soldier the rise of a new Sailor   
Soldier, one who will take your place as the commander of the Sailor   
Soldiers.  
  
"Now if you are done interrogating me, I do have to get someplace   
before night fall. And, my companions look like they are about to   
pass out from fright."  
  
"Yes you may go. You are not the real cause of the shadow that will   
befall the earth, but are instead needed to ensure that it lifts."   
simply stated Saturn as she pulled back her glaive and teleported   
away. A confused looking Venus followed Saturn away.  
  
Jesus turned to his two followers. "What you have seen today must be   
passed from generation to generation, but always kept secret.   
Remember this, those warriors while possessing unbelievable power are   
here to help not harm you. My father shall send the one who will   
bring fulfillment as their princess. When she moves to reclaim her   
throne, our people need to be ready to follow. Now come it is getting   
dark and we still have at least an hour till we reach the town."  
  
********  
  
Morgan finished reading the account and sat back in his chair with a   
stunned look upon his face. "Kind of unbelievable isn't it?" asked   
Sebastian. "Who would have thought that our Lord was almost killed   
that day, and that we have known for almost two thousand years about   
the existence of other races in the universe."  
  
"The secret of the return of the Silver Millennium is one that the   
church has carried since its founding." continued Garibaldi. "The   
time of prophecy is now upon us. A war between good and evil will be   
fought. If good wins the war, the kingdom of heaven will come down   
here to the earth, ushered in by Princess Serenity. And, if good   
fails, our souls are dammed forever."  
  
"There will be a judgment day. However, it will be up to each person   
to judge himself or herself. Those who agree to follow the new queen   
when she reveals herself will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, while   
those who reject her will be dammed." spoke Sinclair  
  
"You my friend will need to let the princess know that we are   
awaiting her return. You shall be the bridge between the world's   
religions and its future ruler. In the years to come this room will   
become a true war room for the world's religions as we attempt to   
shepherd our flocks through the final moments. For the past hundred   
years, the world's religious leaders have all been informed of the   
pending fulfillment of prophecy some of the information you see in   
this room was obtained by them." Explained Kosh "Now come we have   
much to discuss and to brief you on, plus you need a true debriefing   
over what you saw. And then we need to show you your new laptop you   
will be bringing back with you."  
  
********  
Tsukino household  
  
"Hai, let me check with my mom." ChibiUsa placed the phone down on   
the counter and went to find Usagi.  
  
"Momma, can I go with Hotaru-chan to the mall?" asked ChibiUsa. "She   
said she could stop by here on her why over to pick me up."  
  
"Hai." answered Usagi happy that ChibiUsa was spending at least some   
of her time with someone around her age instead of needing to be with   
her all the time.  
  
"Agrito, okaa-san." happily replied ChibiUsa while she gave her   
mother a large hug and then ran back to where she had left the phone.  
  
"Hotaru-chan, my mom said I could go with you. . Twenty minutes, I   
will be ready." Hanging up the phone ChibiUsa headed up to the room   
that she shared with her mother to get ready.  
  
Twenty minutes later Usagi watched as her daughter went of with   
Hotaru, a happy smile crossing her lips. Turning back away, she left   
the window to go back to the book that she had been reading. Ikuko   
came to join her daughter in the living room.  
  
"Usagi, I am very proud of the way you have been handling everything.   
You really are making a great mother. I don't think most kids your   
age would have been able to handle the responsibility, but you have   
taken it very well."  
  
"Thanks, that means a lot." replied Usagi "It has not been easy, but   
every time I feel like giving in I just remember her face when I   
first met her, how scared she was and how much she needed me. And,   
now I have Mamo-chan, being with him makes everything so much   
easier."  
  
"Does he know yet about being her father?" asked Ikuko  
  
"No." simply stated Usagi. Ikuko already knew the reason and knew not   
to press the issue. Usagi would not tell him until she was sure that   
he really loved her. She herself could see the love that both of them   
had for each other, plus anyone who was willing to face Kenji had to   
really love her daughter (even if he was being kept tamed by   
ChibiUsa). She still remembered how the day before Usagi's first date   
with Mamoru, ChibiUsa had henshin and told him straight out not to   
ruin anything or that she would order the Senshi to restrain him in   
the future. Her white-faced husband reluctantly agreed to that deal   
and had not given Mamoru anything more than glares and some   
grumbling.  
  
"Usagi I am sure that he loves you deeply, but you should do what you   
feel best." With that Ikuko got up and gave her daughter a light kiss   
on the forehead and left.  
  
Thanks mother for being so understanding. If it were not for you I   
don't think I could have gotten through this. Oh muzume, I am going   
to miss you dearly when it is time for you to back home to the   
future. Returning to the book she had placed down earlier she began   
reading again, enjoying a few rare moments entirely to herself.  
  
********  
The mall  
  
"Hey ChibiUsa take a look at this." announced Hotaru as she held up   
some indescribable object from the science store. "Any idea of what   
it is?"  
  
"Nope, though the goo inside looks like anything momma tries to   
cook." ChibiUsa replied. Initially she had been wary of coming into   
this science store, but Hotaru would not take no for an answer. And,   
she thought to herself there were some really neat and weird things   
in here. Now just as long as Mercury-sensei did not show up and start   
giving her a science lesson she would be fine.  
  
Walking over to examine some other object that caught her eyes   
attention she bumped into a girl about Usagi's age. She began to say   
she was sorry, but the girl suddenly morphed into a creature as black   
as night. Oh no, its that other Shadow Warrior. She did not get   
much chance for worrying as the creature very quickly blasted her   
unconscious, and in the process sent her flying across the store.  
  
Her unconscious form landed next to where Zoisite had appeared. "Yes   
this is the one." he said while bending down to pick her up. However,   
he was knocked out of the way when a large object flung across the   
room hit him. "What!?" he exclaimed while picking himself up. Seeing   
the girl who dare challenge him he commanded the Shadow Warrior "How   
dare you strike me, a general of the Dark Kingdom. You will pay for   
that. Shadow Warrior, kill that girl."  
  
"Of course master." it responded. Zoisite bent down once more to grab   
the child and then teleported out away. The warrior advanced on   
Hotaru looking forward to this kill.  
  
Hotaru stood glaring out the creature and where the 'general' who had   
kidnapped ChibiUsa had been. She did not feel the slightest fear or   
desire to back down from the advancing creature. ChibiUsa! was the   
only thought that crossed through her mind. As she focused on that   
one thought she fell into a trance. Her eyes began to turn an eerie   
violet as the alchemic symbol for lead appeared on her forehead.  
  
Following these two changes her whole body began to glow in a dark   
violet energy. The energy played up and down her skin. As it extended   
away from the skin the violet energy turned to a black, a black for   
more black than anything: the black of death.  
  
The Shadow Warrior came up short as it noticed the energy that now   
coursed across the child's skin. Very few things could make a Shadow   
Warrior scared, this turned out to be one of them. Somehow the image   
in front of it brought up the primal fear of death. Forcing itself to   
look more closely it noticed the symbol for lead on the girl's   
forehead, suddenly making the connection it knew itself to be in very   
deep trouble.  
  
"How could you hurt ChibiUsa-chan. I cannot forgive you." Hotaru   
stated in a disembodied voice. "You have killed Sailor Soldiers, you   
shall die." With those final statements translucent ribbons burst out   
from Hotaru's outstretched hand. When they intersected with the   
Shadow Warrior the accumulated energy suddenly detonated.  
  
The blast was vast, total, and confined. The store was leveled to the   
ground, but the rest of the mall remained untouched. Thankfully all   
the patrons had fled the store when the Shadow Warrior appeared,   
otherwise they would now be dead. The only thing remaining standing   
in what remained of the store was Hotaru. Exhausted Hotaru collapsed   
to the ground, a faint smile on her lips.  
  
********  
Moments earlier  
  
Naru left one of the shops with some recent purchases. I wish Usagi   
was here, but I wont grudge her desire to have at least some private   
time to herself. With her taking care of her cousin all the time,   
heck she at times almost acts like the girl's mother, it is no   
surprise that she might not have the energy to go mall trolling as   
often. I should get her something. Hey isn't that her cousin over in   
that store.  
  
Naru made to move over to the science shop to get a closer look at   
the pink haired child. But before she could take more than a few   
steps she heard screams and patrons began to flood out of the store.   
Looking back at the store for ChibiUsa she saw her in the arms of a   
man wearing a gray uniform. Wait a moment that is Zoisite, the man   
who killed Nephrite.  
  
Naru watched Zoisite disappear with ChibiUsa and then felt her body   
buffered by a strong blast. As she looked around, at first everything   
looked fine, but then she looked towards where the store had been.   
What she saw caused her to gasp as nothing was left, expect for a   
young girl near ChibiUsa's age standing upright momentarily before   
collapsing to the ground. Fear for her best friend's cousin   
catapulted her into action and she ran up to the young girl. "Are you   
ok." she asked.  
  
"ChibiUsa-chan." was the only thing that Hotaru could croak out.  
  
Hotaru appeared to be in prefect condition, except for being very   
weak. Making a decision Naru picked up the frail girl and dashed to   
where she knew a bank of pay phones to be. As she ran she tried to   
reassure the girl. "Don't worry I know someone who can help." Picking   
up the phone Naru quickly fed it money and waited for the other end   
to be picked up.  
  
"Moshi Moshi." came Usagi's voice  
  
"Usagi-chan, ChibiUsa has been kidnapped by Zoisite. They hit her   
with some sort of blast and then Zoisite disappeared with her." Naru   
hoped that she was right in her hypothesis of who Usagi really was.  
  
"How dare those bastards attack my daughter! They will pay for that."   
angrily muttered Usagi, not realizing that Naru would hear her words.   
After pausing for a moment Usagi continued "Naru where did this   
happen and what about a dark haired sickly girl, Hotaru, who was with   
her?"  
  
"I am at the mall and have Hotaru with me, she seems to be okay. How   
I am not quite sure, as everything else in the store was destroyed."  
  
"I will be there shortly." came Usagi's reply and she was left with   
the dial tone.   
  
Hanging up the phone, Naru bent down to try to comfort the other   
girl. "Don't worry Hotaru-chan, Sailor Moon will be here shortly and   
she will save ChibiUsa. Just save your energy and rest, you are lucky   
to be alive, as everything else in that store was destroyed in the   
blast" How you survived is beyond me. Wait a moment! Usagi was   
referring to ChibiUsa as her daughter over the phone. That can't be   
possible, though it would explain some things. Argh why does   
everything have to be so complicated lately.  
  
********  
Tsukino household  
  
Usagi hung up the phone, her face was as white as a sheet. The   
whiteness was not from fear put from anger that coursed through her   
blood at the moment. Unknown to her, her aura glowed brightly, the   
glamour magic barely concealing her true identity. "Luna, Shingo come   
her please." she called out  
  
Shingo and Luna quickly responded to Usagi's call, both of them a   
little disturbed by the iciness in her voice. "Usagi what is the   
matter." asked Luna softly, actually slightly scared by what she saw   
in front of her.  
  
"Shingo, ChibiUsa has been captured by the Dark Kingdom. Tell mom and   
dad when they return that I have gone after her. Come Luna we need to   
get going."  
  
"Sure thing Usagi. Don't worry I am sure that you will get her back."   
Shingo tried to reassure his sister. He released a pent up breath   
when his sister had left the house, the sigh was unintentional, but   
she had him terrified by the look that was on her face. I kind of   
feel sorry for those fools who thought to mess with her daughter.  
  
Usagi strolled down the street and into an alley where she became   
Sailor Moon. Stepping out, she took to the roofs to speed her trip to   
the mall. Every moment that she ran, she ran faster and faster. By   
the time they arrived Luna had dug her claws into Usagi's shoulder in   
a death grip to avoid falling off.  
  
In a different part of the city Mamoru was suddenly besieged by   
strong feelings of sadness and then anger. The emotions were so   
powerful that they forced him to his knees. Usako. He thought as he   
tried to stand. Midway back up he felt her transformation to Sailor   
Moon. Fearful of the emotions that she radiated he quickly   
transformed himself and ran for all he was worth toward where he   
sensed that she was heading.  
  
The two of them arrived at the mall at the same time. Noticing the   
gaping hole in the ceiling, they decided to enter that way. Landing   
in the rubble they looked around taking in the devastation. Nani ka.   
What happened here? they both thought. "Usako what is wrong?" asked   
Tuxedo-kamen.  
  
"Those bastards, they have taken my daughter. In the name of the Moon   
I will make them pay for that!" she exclaimed.   
  
Mamoru could feel the sadness that accompanied the first statement   
and the anger with the second. Putting an arm around her, he tried to   
calm her down. Huh?, her daughter? He wanted to find out what she   
meant by that, but knew that this was definitely not the time. Those   
thoughts, however were quickly dismissed from his mind by a familiar   
voice.  
  
"Well if it is not Sailor Whinny Moon and her Cape Boy."   
  
"Zoisite, you will pay for what you have done!" Said Usagi as she   
removed her Tiara and then threw it at the hologram.  
  
As the tiara passed through the hologram it continued speaking. "You   
must not think me that stupid Sailor Moon, this is a holoprojector.   
However, if you are interested in speaking more civilly with me that   
can be arranged. I really don't have any interest in that child, she   
was just a way to get from you what we want."  
  
"And what would that be." asked Sailor Moon.  
  
"Why all the Nijizuishou crystals, of course." Come to the Tokyo   
tower now, with no one else and I will give you the child back in   
exchange for those crystals. Ta Ta." and then the image was gone.  
  
Sailor Moon collapsed to her knees, sobbing for ChibiUsa's safety.   
"Muzume, don't worry I will come save you." Feeling another   
comforting hand she looked up to see that Naru was now kneeling down   
next to her.  
  
"Usagi, I believe in you, you will get ChibiUsa back. I will watch   
over Hotaru till you get back." said Naru. Usagi looked up while Naru   
was talking and noticed Hotaru lying on a mall bench nearby.  
  
Getting her firm again she stood once again. "No one, but no one   
messes with my family and gets away with it. In the name of my   
kingdom as the heir to the empire of the Silver Millennium they will   
not get away with this." declared Usagi. With a leap she and Tuxedo-  
kamen leaped out of the hole in the mall's roof to begin their   
journey to Tokyo Tower.  
  
"Good luck Usagi-chan." called Naru after the departing heroine.   
Moving next to the child on the bench she helped her up and the two   
began walking out of the mall. "Why don't you come back with me, I am   
sure we will here of ChibiUsa's safe return shortly. You also look   
like you could use the rest, and you can tell me about ChibiUsa, I   
don't know her that well, but her cousin is my best friend."  
  
Luna watched Sailor Moon and Tuxedo-kamen disappear and bid them a   
silent good luck as well. Deciding that the other Senshi needed to be   
alerted she went off to find them. Artemis said something about   
Minako attending something near the mall today, lets see if I can   
find her.  
  
********  
Tokyo Tower  
  
"Don't worry little girl, Sailor Moon will be here soon. Too bad   
neither of you will be leaving this building alive." said Zoisite.   
ChibiUsa sat bound and gagged before Zoisite on the floor.  
  
Tears streaked down ChibiUsa's face as she knew the danger that Usagi   
was about to face for her. Oh why wasn't I fast enough to see him or   
at least henshin first. I am a Sailor Senshi I should not have been   
caught so easily. And, what about Hotaru, Zoisite claimed that she is   
dead. Oh, poor Hotaru-chan. with that last thought ChibiUsa sniffled   
some, much to the delight of Zoisite.  
  
Out on the roof Kunzite awaited the arrival of their two guests.   
Where is that Shadow Warrior, it should have returned by now. Though   
Zoisite did describe seeing that store as a pile of rubble through   
the holoprojector. The only possibility is that the other Shadow   
Warrior found it and the two fought. No time to worry about that now,   
here comes the rabbit. As the two entered the base of the tower he   
chuckled. "It is time for the rise of the Dark Kingdom. Let all bow   
down in front of our power, tomorrow begins a new age for humanity.   
No longer will we be slaves to non-Tehrans, we will control our own   
destiny. with the end of his statement a spatial distortion field   
grabbed at the tower, changing its very shape. Left in its place was   
a twisted version of a mage tower from long ago, a tower whose image   
and layout is shaped by the image of its mage: Beryl.  
  
********  
  
Sailor Moon and Tuxedo-kamen arrived at the base of Tokyo Tower. "You   
do know that this is sure to be a trap." stated Tuxedo-kamen.  
  
"I know, but we have no other choice. I can't let them have ChibiUsa,   
we just have to hope for the best." Unconsciously moving a tad bit   
closer to Tuxedo-kamen the two of them entered the tower. They had   
barely gone ten feet when Usagi shivered feeling the transformation   
of the tower. Before, the tower was a relatively neutral location,   
but now it radiated pure evil. Moving even closer the two of them   
continued to an awaiting elevator and up the tower.  
  
The trip up the tower was unusually long, an effect of the new   
spatial design of the tower. An effect designed to give those who   
rode up the elevator an extreme sense of uneasiness and dread. Mamoru   
noticed how Usagi seemed to be getting tenser every minute the   
elevator climbed, hoping to distract her from the journey he asked   
her the question that had been on his mind. "Usako, this afternoon   
you have been referring to ChibiUsa as your daughter, why is that?"   
as he asked the question he brought her up against his chest and   
wrapped his arms around her chest to make her feel more secure.  
  
His actions had the desired effect and she began to tell him the   
truth. "She is or will be my daughter. She is from the future, the   
daughter of Neo-Queen Serenity and King Endymion."  
  
"You mean she is our daughter." stated Mamoru figuring out the   
unspoken truth. As he said that he squeezed her a little tighter   
letting his love for her pour forth. Usagi relaxed even more in the   
warmth of his love, knowing as her mother had promised her that he   
really did love her.  
  
The two of them remained like that for the rest of the elevator ride.   
Mamoru spent his time thinking back over how he saw Usagi and   
ChibiUsa interact, and realized that things that had puzzled him made   
perfect sense now. Heck, as he chuckled to himself he realized why   
Tsukino-Kenji was reasonably civil to him and that child was always   
right near Tsukino-san as well.  
  
All too soon the elevator reached the top. However, its intended   
purpose of putting its occupants at ill ease had backfired. Instead   
the two occupants were for the first time since the crises began   
fully at ease and ready to face the situation. Stepping out Sailor   
Moon was followed a half step behind by Tuxedo-kamen and she marched   
over towards where Zoisite was with ChibiUsa.  
  
"I am so glad you decided to show Sailor Moon, this girl is too cute   
to have to kill unnecessarily. Now just place your Nijizuishou   
Crystals down on that table to your left and you can have the child   
back." greeted Zoisite.  
  
Sailor Moon took out her crystals and placed them on the table as   
instructed and then walked back to where Tuxedo-kamen was standing.   
"Ok now give me the child."  
  
"You Lunarians are so foolish." announced another voice belonging to   
Kunzite. He appeared next to the table and scooped up the crystals   
and then disappeared again.  
  
"You think we would let you go this easily Sailor Moon. You do know   
that you have to die, and well this is the perfect opportunity   
without any of your other Senshi here to make up for your complete   
lack of skills. But, first let me take care of a loose end." With   
that statement Zoisite picked up ChibiUsa by the neck, as he did the   
gag vanished. With a laugh he began to send large amounts of dark   
energy into the child while choking her. ChibiUsa attempted to avoid   
screaming out, but after only a minute it was too much and she began   
to scream in pain.  
  
"Bastard, how can you do something like that!! She is only a child   
let her go!" screamed Sailor Moon collapsing to her knees under the   
pain of seeing her daughter tortured.  
  
"Very easily, you see even without your Sailor Senshi you are a   
formable warrior, but this way I break your spirit first. Now watch   
as I kill this pathetic child."  
  
"NOOOOOO!!!!!!!" screamed Usagi. Unnoticed by Zoisite a crescent moon   
had already appeared on ChibiUsa's face in response to the pain she   
was being subjected to. Now a large white energy enveloped Usagi and   
a golden one Mamoru. The energies caressed their bodies and then shot   
between the two flowing and mingling. When the light died down,   
visible in front of Sailor Moon was a final silver Nijizuishou   
Crystal. With its appearance the other crystals winked out of   
existence in Kunzite's hand only to reappear in front of Sailor Moon.  
  
"Huh?" thought Mamoru, with similar thoughts echoed by Zoisite and   
Kunzite.  
  
The other Nijizuishou crystals began to quickly orbit around the one   
that had just emerged from Usagi. With each orbit they spiraled   
around the crystal faster and closer, till they began to merge. All   
present quickly realized what was happening, the Ginzuishou was being   
formed. With the crystal formed, Sailor Moon and ChibiMoon's forms   
shimmered, to be replaced by their true forms as the princesses of   
the Moon.  
  
An energy blast emitted itself from the crystal towards Zoisite and   
then mother and daughter were standing beside each other. Tuxedo-  
kamen had not remained untouched by the changes, his form too had   
shimmered and now in his place stood Prince Endymion of the Earth.  
  
"How dare you try to take my daughter's life. For that I cannot   
forgive you. I am Serenity crown princess of the Moon Kingdom and you   
will now pay the price."  
  
"As the prince of the Earth I too will extract my vengeance on you   
for harming my daughter." added Endymion as he removed his blade from   
its holster, the metal gleaming in the light.  
  
"What! Sailor Moon is the princess, wait how can there be a child   
already?" but Zoisite did not get much chance to verbalize his   
thoughts as very quickly Princess Serenity gathered a large amount of   
energy with her Crescent Moon Wand and flung it his way. The blast   
impacted Zoisite and sent him flying across the room and into a wall.   
Slumped to the ground he tried to stand, but found Prince Endymion   
blocking his path. He did not have time to sort out his thoughts as   
Endymion's sword pierced his heart, killing him.  
  
Kunzite had teleported into the room just as the Moon Princesses and   
the Earth Prince were revealed. He knew Beryl's anger would be   
extraordinary high and tried to salvage some of his hide. However, he   
was disheartened as he saw Serenity easily take down Zoisite.   
Zoisite, NO!! I won't let your death go unavenged. Noticing both   
Serenity and Endymion collapse and change back their other forms, he   
grinned. The child also lost her princess form and became ChibiMoon.   
So, it looks like they can't handle the power fully yet, well that   
is just too bad for them.  
  
********  
Earlier, Crown  
  
Minako was enjoying an ice cream at Crown when Luna ran in breathing   
heavily. Other patrons stared at the cat that upon seeing Minako made   
a beeline over to her. Minako quickly picked up Luna and offered her   
some of her water.  
  
"Miss I am going to have to ask you to take that cat outside, we   
don't allow animals in here." informed one of the waitresses.  
  
"No prob." replied Minako as she put down on the table the money for   
the bill. Then carrying Luna she left Crown, knowing that whatever   
possessed Luna to run in like that had to be very important. "Luna   
what is it?" she worriedly asked.  
  
"ChibiUsa has been captured by the Dark Kingdom. Usagi and Mamoru   
have gone to Tokyo Tower to barter the Nijizuishou Crystals for her   
life." Luna finally managed to say between much huffing and puffing.  
  
"Nani ka!!" exclaimed Minako. Then opening her communicator she   
called the other Senshi. "Minna, ChibiUsa has been captured. Usagi   
has gone to the Tokyo Tower to try to rescue her, meet me their   
ASAP." As the chorus of 'On my ways' with assorted curses came across   
she placed Luna down next to Artemis and henshin into Venus. Then   
picking Luna and Artemis up she began a mad dash to Tokyo Tower.  
  
She had only a short wait after her arrival for the other Senshi to   
show up. "Any ideas on what that is?" asked Jupiter, referring to   
what had been Tokyo Tower.  
  
"I am not quite sure, but it appears to be warped both spatially and   
temporally." Replied Mercury after she had scanned it. "I am not sure   
how we are going to get in as all entrances appear to be locked."  
  
"That is easy, leave it to me." announced Jupiter. "Guardian Jupiter   
give me the strength to blast open a passage so that I can save my   
friend, Supreme Thunder. The static electricity that Jupiter   
unleashed swarmed towards the main entrance and blasted both doors   
off their hinges. With a smug look she turned to the other gaping   
Senshi "This way." she said while indicating to the opening.  
  
"Now what way?" asked a very impatient Mars. Every moment that she   
did not know how Usagi was doing was making her more irate.  
  
"Up" replied Mercury as she led the way to a staircase. "I hope you   
are all up for some climbing as my scanner indicates that the stair   
well is about three times longer now."  
  
"Well no pain no loss. Right?" replied Venus  
  
"Yeah, sort of." Jupiter responded to Venus's mangled expression.   
"Come lets go, the princess awaits." And then the four warriors and   
two cats were off, climbing the steps as fast as they could.  
  
They arrived at the top of the stairs moments after Kunzite   
materialized in the room. They saw their princess revealed and then   
saw her and Endymion take down Zoisite.  
  
********  
The battle once again  
  
"Time to die princess. Too bad you could only manage that power for a   
little while." As he walked towards the slumped body of Sailor Moon   
two red energy blades appeared in his hands. However before he could   
take her out, the irate Senshi of Mars tackled him to the ground.  
  
"If you want to get our princess, you will have to go through us   
first." announced Venus as she and the other Senshi took up flanking   
positions in front of their princess.  
  
"That will not be hard." replied Kunzite as he threw Mars across the   
room. Turning to face the three standing Senshi he let them make the   
first move.  
  
Jupiter quickly charged at him, lightning playing along her body, as   
she closed in she unleashed her attack. However, to her dismay he   
just outstretched his hand and deflected the shot right back at her.   
The return blast sent her flying across the room and onto the   
unconscious form of Mars.  
  
Venus and Mercury moved to block any advance by Kunzite, but for the   
moment were weary of actually attacking him. ChibiMoon hearing   
Jupiter's screams awoke and seeing the situation crawled over next to   
her mother. "Momma you have to wake up, wake-up momma." she called   
out to Sailor Moon while shaking her.  
  
"I will have the princess, move aside now or join you friends in   
death." announced Kunzite. His hands once again formed the red energy   
blades.  
  
"Never." stated Mercury and Venus together. Usagi opened her eyes to   
see two of her guardians standing before her and the Dark Kingdom   
general. She saw him unleash his energy blades and saw the two of   
them cut down.  
  
No! She called in her mind. But, what can I do, I don't have the   
power to defeat him myself. she thought. Then she remembered what   
her mother had said about using the crystal with her Sailor Senshi   
form. Of course. Standing she pulled off her brooch and summoned   
the crystal from the wand. Placing the two together in her hand she   
called out "Moon Crystal Power Make Up!"  
  
With the final words of the new transformation phrase the crystal   
pulsed with power and its energy enveloped her body. As she underwent   
her Senshi transformation the crescent moon glowed on her forehead,   
till her tiara hid it. Additionally no longer was her aura fully   
masked during the transformation. Her angel wings appeared   
momentarily before her body suit formed.  
  
At first appearance the Sailor Moon who now stood before Kunzite was   
no different than the one before, except that if the tiara were   
removed a crescent moon would be visible on her forehead. But she   
radiated more power than before, however this went unnoticed by   
Kunzite.  
  
"Nice transformation, but that is not going to help you live longer.   
Now die." And he sent two energy blades this time at her. The energy   
blades flew towards her body and impacted her causing her to drop a   
bit for a moment. But, then surprising him she straighten and stood   
back up.  
  
"Now it is my turn, to eliminate trash like you." With a flick of her   
wrist she pulled a long rod like object, the Moon Scepter out. "Moon   
Princess Halation." As she finished her attack phrase, golden   
crescent moons of energy flew out of the rod towards Kunzite. He put   
up a shield to protect himself, and it worked at first. However, he   
was quickly overpowered and the energy of the scepter plowed into his   
body and soul.  
  
As the stream of power ended, a barely alive Kunzite stood up from   
the far end of the room, where he had been flung. "The Dark Kingdom   
will triumph in the end." called Kunzite before he used the last of   
his teleportation energy to retreat.  
  
Exhausted by the battle, the emergence of her previous form Sailor   
Moon collapsed to the floor to sleep for real this time. ChibiUsa   
moved and warped herself around her mother in a hug, happy to be back   
with her. The only other individuals left alert in the former Tokyo   
Tower, now a mage tower were the two Lunar cats.  
  
-End Chapter 13  
  
-Well I am back to the getting the chapters written quickly.   
This chapter's title is particularly appropriate, considering   
the plot of that particular B5 episode. And, no I did not plan   
that this episode would happen at number 13, I did not even   
realize that until I had partially written the chapter.  
  
-I believe that Beryl might just be a tad bit peeved following   
the happenings in this chapter. Her lust for Endymion just got   
another blow, considering that it has been revealed that he and   
the princess have a daughter. I wander what that will do to her   
mental stability. Poor Kunzite, he is now the only around to   
face her anger.  
  
-I figured that with Naru knowing Usagi since they were little   
kids, she would have to notice the change in Usagi's behavior   
with her becoming a Senshi. And, also that she is smart enough   
to eventually put two and two together (she does near the end   
of R, but then that plot line is completely dropped). Given how   
much faster I have forced Usagi to mature, Naru had to make the   
connection before too long.  
  
-Next chapter will see the return of some character not seen in   
a while, and might see another victim of the time explosion's   
arrival.  
  
-Finally I want to give thanks to Comet Moon who has been   
proofreading all my chapters since 11 (grammar check is still   
not perfect). In addition he has been helping with suggesting   
various plot lines and scenes some of which may appear in later   
chapters (the addition of the golden earth energy in this   
chapter was his idea).  
  



	14. The Long Night

The Fragility of Time  
Chapter 14: "The Long Night"  
Author: etj4Eagle  
Email: etj4Eagle@yahoo.com  
http://www.geocities.com/etj4eagle  
Lasted Edited: 9/9/00  
  
Disclaimer: A reminder I own none of the characters of this story,   
all rights are owned by others.   
If you distribute the story, do only   
so freely and inform me of where you post it.  
  
_______________________________________  
The Moon  
  
A figure that had been kneeling in prayer stood. Turning her gaze   
back towards the earth she stepped through a portal to reemerge on   
the roof of one of Tokyo's office buildings. While in meditation she   
had been unaware of the passage of time and far more had passed than   
she had expected, but she knew that her former queen was responsible   
for this. As the guardian of time she knew certain things and could   
feel the approach of others, however she loved her future queen too   
much at times to do what was needed. Normally she would have remained   
at the gate, but the changes had prevented that, so Queen Serenity   
had made her oblivious to the passage of time, to prevent her from   
interfering in what must be.  
  
By now the princess and her court knew without a doubt that Usagi was   
the moon princess. More importantly with the recovery of the   
Ginzuishou, the princess could begin to truly use her magic.   
Unfortunately it might be years before she fully realized the depth   
of her magic. Though, the pull of time already indicated that   
Serenity would become stronger faster than she had in previous   
timelines.  
  
Pulling a particular strand of time's flow she examined it. Looking   
closely she noticed that her princess had already figured out how to   
use the Ginzuishou to enhance her Senshi form. The strand showed the   
forward ripples of the possible future, and they held promise for the   
Messiah. But, they also showed grave danger. An imbalance was very   
possible now. An imbalance towards either light or silence would be   
equally destructive to the world. Only with the two in complete   
balance could Chaos be destroyed for good.  
  
Actions would need to be taken to ensure the balance. But for now her   
princess needed her, and so the Senshi of Time began heading towards   
a well-off house on the outskirts of the city to pay two old friends   
a visit.  
  
*********  
The outskirts of Tokyo  
  
Haruka and Michiru both nursed badly bruised limbs from the fight   
with the Shadow Warrior the day before, having been barely able to   
limp off that battlefield. "Michiru you looked troubled what is it?"   
asked a concerned Haruka.  
  
"I don't know, it is just a feeling that I have. It is almost as if   
the seas are restless with worry. Earlier there was great sadness,   
now mostly there is relief." Michiru said trying to explain her   
feelings. "And there is something else more obscure that I have not   
yet been able to make heads or tails of."  
  
Haruka came up next to Michiru and placed an arm around her and   
pulled her into a protective hug. "Don't worry you will figure out   
what it means. It's probably related to your reawakening as the   
Senshi of Neptune."  
  
Michiru sighed into Haruka's hold, trying to put her feelings behind   
her, but knowing somehow that they needed to go do something.  
  
"You are right Princess Uranus, the seas are trying to tell Neptune   
something." answered Pluto who had silently appeared behind them.   
Turning to Neptune she continued: "Over time you will gain better   
understanding of what the seas attempt to tell you. Come the princess   
needs us."   
  
*********  
Above the Security Line Around Tokyo Tower  
  
For the past fifteen minutes the Foxbat squadron had been circling   
Tokyo tower. As a result of the incident in the park about a month   
ago, a wing of Cobra Gunships had always been on five minute alert at   
the Zama military base. Normally the Japanese forces at this shared   
base consisted of only an engineering battalion, however now gunships   
and troop helicopters were stationed at the base. Keffer and the   
other Foxbats were the first of the troops to be transferred, by   
their having actual combat experience with the new threat.  
  
Only a few minutes passed between when Kunzite cast his spell   
transforming Tokyo Tower into a mage tower and when the helicopters   
began lifting off. While they made excellent time to the tower   
arriving only moments after the Senshi breached the tower, they could   
only circle the tower for now. While boring, it was highly   
preferential than having creatures like last time come out to play.  
  
As the lead copter swung around the north side of the tower, Captain   
Keffer's weapon's officer commented: "Spooky isn't it? Monsters and   
children with magic powers fighting is one thing, but this, well this   
is a whole different ball game."  
  
"Yeah I know. Just goes to show you that those doomsday sayers were   
right all along. The earth is going to go to hell with the approach   
of the millennium. I hate to see what could have done this bit of   
urban renewal so fast." replied Keffer.  
  
"The brass is probably trying to fully assess the situation and   
convince themselves that this is for real." Keffer continued before   
dipping the copter to check something on the ground approaching the   
tower, "I would prefer that we had some ground troops supporting us,   
maybe some tanks, but that would tell the people that we really don't   
have control of the situation."  
  
"Of course, and so instead they just send us in with heavy armed   
copters. Can't scare the populous too badly." Replied Ivanova. "I   
just hope they decide to do something. Send some forces in or have us   
open fire, this babysitting of the tower is starting to get boring."  
  
*********  
The Security Line   
  
A group of unmarked vans pulled up. As soon as they stopped a group   
of men dressed in black jumped out and started to put on various   
pieces of commando gear. "Guess I won't be needing this baby." Spoke   
one of the men in a disappointed tone as he patted the case to a   
sniper rifle.   
  
"With the probable target zone being the observation deck, I don't   
think you would find any place to use it." replied another one of the   
men.  
  
Two of the men headed over towards the collection of police and army   
officers who appeared to be in charge. The head police officer of   
the area noticed the approach of the two men and moved to welcome   
them. "You must be Mr. Clark" he said addressing the man in the lead.   
With Clark's nod he continued. "Major Kaede will brief you on the   
situation. Unfortunately we don't really know much about what is   
happening inside, only that it appears to be relatively quite."  
  
Of course with the likely area of action being the observation deck   
you would probably not notice anything short of World War III going   
on in there. thought the man beside Clark, Chavez.  
  
"Mr. Clark I hope that you and your men have had time to look at the   
intelligence that we had delivered to your hotel room?"  
  
"Yes we have, I must say that it seems fairly unbelievable. But,   
after seeing this in front of me" he said while indicating the tower   
"I am forced to admit that it probably is true."  
  
"Good, in that case if you follow me I will show you to where we have   
the tower's blueprints laid out, though as you can probably imagine,   
much of that may not be true anymore considering what they did not   
the outsides. One final thing" he said while handing the two of them   
some pictures "these were taken not too long ago. Apparently about an   
hour ago something leveled a store in the mall. The blast was   
confined to just that store, however nothing remains of that store,   
thankfully there are no reported casualties as of yet. Our   
investigation is still ongoing in that matter, however the police on   
the site reported that the witnesses claimed to have seen individuals   
that have been identified as being present and carrying out other   
attacks."  
  
Chavez looking at the pictures gulped not really wanting to meet up   
with what could do that kind of damage. For the first time he truly   
realized that each of them was only going to get one opportunity to   
take down their targets. Unless that first surprise shot terminated   
the target, they were dead. Even more so than in previous missions;   
they would have little time to assess the situation and to choose   
hostiles from friendlies and civilians. "Guess we better get the rest   
of the team and start planning our assault, Mr. C."  
  
*********  
The Dark Kingdom  
  
To say Beryl was furious would be an understatement. About the only   
thing saving Kunzite from death, was that he was already essentially   
there and that he was the only one of the generals still alive. Kill   
him and Beryl would be in trouble. Instead she took her anger out on   
the various youma and the fortress itself.  
  
"Beryl calm yourself, all is not lost." came a voice from nowhere and   
everywhere, the voice of Metalia.  
  
"Yes it is, my forces have been utterly routed, and even the Shadow   
warrior was killed under mysterious conditions. That brat Serenity   
has the Ginzuishou, and worst of all she has somehow managed to   
conceive a child with my Endymion." ranted Beryl. In fact most of   
Beryl's ranting had been on Serenity's child, for she had observed   
the battle through her crystal ball just as the Ginzuishou was being   
reformed and had therefore learned that the princess had a daughter.   
However, she did not know that the daughter was from the future, a   
future that could very well not exist anymore. "She has stained   
Endymion, he is no longer pure. He must die for forsaking me."  
  
"BERYL!!" the voice boomed louder, this time fully getting her   
attention. With almost a sigh the disembodied voice of Metalia   
continued. "Yes, that brat needs to be made to pay and the same with   
her love toy, and I can still help you achieve that. You forget that   
you have amassed vast amounts of energy for me and still have that   
sustained source, soon I will be able to cross into this world, and   
unlike our original plan I will be far stronger after I do so. Unlike   
last time, the Ginzuishou will not so easily stop me, and the little   
princess has nowhere near the control over that crystal and its   
powers that her mother did.  
  
"Send your armies and begin preparing this world for my return and   
your ascension to its throne. The magic of the Silver Millennium will   
soon be yours, and life eternal with it. Send Kunzite after the   
Ginzuishou, Serenity must not know that it presence no longer matters   
to us.  
  
"As a gift take this box and have Kunzite give its contents to a   
human. The stones contained within, will bond to a human and turn it   
into a killing machine. A thing of destruction that is far more   
deadly than your normal youma, even if not quite the same as a Shadow   
Warrior."  
  
As the voice finished speaking, a small spherical region of the air   
shimmered, as it stopped a small box was revealed. Beryl summoned the   
box to her hand. Something this small will prove to be a weapon of   
nearly the strength of a Shadow Warrior, interesting. "Kunzite   
appear before me." called Beryl her summoning being carried via magic   
to where Kunzite lay.  
  
Moments later Kunzite stood before his queen, mostly healed from his   
encounter with Sailor Moon. "Yes my lord." he said while bowing.  
  
"Kunzite, I take it you have had sufficient time to rest. It is time   
for us to continue with our task of awakening Metalia. As long as   
Serenity holds the Ginzuishou she is a risk to us, go and retrieve   
that crystal. Just remember never to hold it with your bear hands,   
only via magic."  
  
"As you wish my liege." replied Kunzite.  
  
As he began to move to leave, she stopped him. "One more thing   
Kunzite. Takes this box, give it to a human, it will help in your   
task."  
  
Taking the box he once again made to leave "Understood my queen. The   
Dark Kingdom shall rise and earth will finally be ruled by its own   
children."  
  
*********  
Tokyo Tower  
  
ChibiUsa sat worriedly next to her mother. Scanning the room and   
seeing that none of the other Senshi nor Tuxedo-kamen had stirred yet   
she spoke to Luna, her voice full of worry. "Luna, Artemis what are   
we going to do. They are not awakening."  
  
"I don't know, plus Venus and Mercury are badly injured, they are   
going to need some kind of treatment. If Mercury was awake, she might   
have been able to do something." replied Luna as she finished   
checking on Venus again.  
  
A few flights down from the observation deck a squad of soldiers   
cautiously made their way up the tower. "Geez it seems that we have   
to have climbed much further than the top of this tower already."   
Complained one of the team members.  
  
"Same here, remember what I said about not believing the blue prints   
anymore, you saw what happened to its exterior." Replied Chavez.  
  
As they approached the landing for the observation deck, the men   
flanked what they thought to be a door. Taking a glance at the door,   
the team's explosives expert pulled out a little plastic and attached   
it. A muffled explosion later four object flew into the room. Under   
the cover of the flash bangs the team quickly entered the room, guns   
ready.  
  
ChibiUsa's head had picked up when she heard the muffled explosion,   
but before she could ask what was going on, she was blinded and   
stunned by the combination of bright flashes and large bangs.   
Recovering, quickly, she found herself looking down the barrel of an   
assault rifle towards a soldier clad in black.  
  
A series of "clears" came from the other members in the room and the   
soldier deciding that she was not a threat lowered his own gun and   
called "clear" as well. With the room clear of threats, the assault   
group moved to assess the situation. Two moved to each of the two   
downed groups of Senshi. While the remaining two joined the one   
already by ChibiUsa  
  
"McCoy we need a medic here, these two are badly injured" called one   
of the two by Venus and Mercury. McCoy, being the team medic, got up   
from where he was beside Clark to go aid the two downed Senshi.  
  
"Chavez what is the deal with the other two?" asked Clark, having   
already determined that the two downed he was looking at right now   
were okay, as Chavez came up beside him.  
  
"They looked a little banged up, but otherwise seem to be stable for   
the moment."  
  
"Understood." Turning to the little child in front of him, Clark   
addressed her for the first time. "Are you okay little one?"  
  
Looking up at him with tears in her eyes, she nodded. "What about   
Sailor Moon, is she okay?" She asked barely remembering to not call   
her momma.  
  
"I don't know, but she seems okay for the moment. Though your two   
friends over there unfortunately are a different story. But, I am   
going to call in some others who will be able to help them, is that   
ok?" He asked her, not wanting to frighten her when more soldiers   
came into the room, as he was certain she probably was a lot more   
dangerous than she looked (especially if she was scared, one of the   
reasons why he had dropped his gun in the first place).  
  
ChibiUsa's reply was a nod and a tightening of her hold on Sailor   
Moon's hand.  
  
Clark pulled out his radio, to call for medical teams "This is   
Rainbow Six we have secured the observation deck. There are no   
hostiles, however we have wounded friendlies. Two requiring immediate   
medical evacuation and four other wounded. Only conscious friendly is   
one child Sailor Senshi and two cats."  
  
"Roger that Rainbow Six, we are sending up med teams now."  
  
*********  
  
After what seemed to ChibiUsa to be an eternity later a new group of   
men rushed into the observation deck. However, where the first group   
was clad all in black, this group wore the traditional army fatigues.   
The army medics accompanying the group immediately moved to the   
severely injured Senshi. What they saw made them pause for a moment,   
even the one who had seen some actual combat casualties. My god,   
there is no way those two are going to live. The only thing I am   
going to be able to do for them is to make them comfortable. They are   
too young to die like this. Steeling himself for what he knew was   
going to be a depressing task he and his partner moved towards where   
Venus and Mercury lay.  
  
Each of the two moved to a separate Senshi, to assess the situation.   
Taking Mercury's vitals he was in for a surprise of a lifetime.   
"Nani-ka!" he exclaimed as he realized that her pulse was strong and   
normal. He had been expecting her to be dieing of internal bleeding.   
Looking at her torso he noticed a large gash across her abdomen, one   
that while mostly cauterized still bled. While he knew that only a   
little amount of blood could create a large looking spill, the amount   
spilt around her had to be at least a unit's worth (two units is   
fatal). "Yori-san," he called to his partner "how are your patient's   
vitals?"  
  
"I can't believe it, she has to have nearly lost two units, but her   
pulse is still strong. Additionally the wound seems to have partially   
cauterized itself. I don't understand it, she should be on the verge   
of death." Yori replied  
  
"It is the same with my patient over here. Patch the wound and get an   
IV hooked up so we can at least get some plasma into them.   
Considering everything, I would not be surprised if she started to   
come around so give her a morphine injection as well." With that the   
two medics started treating their patients.  
  
Four of the other soldiers had begun the process of moving down Mars   
and Jupiter. Other members of the group moved around the observation   
deck poking at everything trying to figure out what had happened. The   
rest of the group proceeded to setup a defensive perimeter on the   
observation deck, just in case the hostiles returned.  
  
Clark after ensuring that the blue and orange Senshi were being   
treated and finding out that they might actually live went back to   
the child Senshi who sat sobbing next to the one who was reported to   
be their leader and a man dressed in formal wear. With his gun slung   
on his back he knelt down next to the little girl "You really care   
about her don't you?" he asked.  
  
With some sniffles she nodded her head. "This is all my fault, if I   
had not let myself be captured none of this would have happened. They   
almost killed her, and the others as well." Her final words were hard   
to make out, racked in sobs as they were, but the emotions and blame   
that she placed upon herself were quite clear.  
  
Clark knew what needed to be done. Opening his arms slightly she   
threw herself into his arms and began to sob for real now into his   
shoulder. "Don't worry little one, they will be okay. The medics tell   
me the injury to the one in blue and the one in orange is not as bad   
as it appears, and there is a good chance that they might live. And   
Sailor Moon isn't it?" he paused for a moment letting her nod, "She   
appears to be fine" he said in a soothing voice.  
  
Walking around with her up in his arms, she began to calm. Clark   
himself took the opportunity to fully take account of the current   
situation. The less injured Senshi had already been transported out,   
and they were now prepping the other two for transport. Catching the   
eye of the chief medic, the medic understood the unasked question.  
  
"I don't know why, but they probably will recover." As if to confirm   
that suspicion, Venus chose that moment to groan and open her eyes.   
With the combat morphine injection she was in no shape to do anything   
much more than move her head around. But that was enough to elate the   
hopes of the doctors. "It appears the question now is can we get   
these two patched up before they fully awake and decide they want to   
leave." Continued the doctor in a slightly more jubilant mood  
  
ChibiMoon who as Clark turned away caught sight of Venus for herself   
waved, catching Venus's attention. She was rewarded with a large   
smile, and a futile attempt by Venus to flash her "V" sign futile, as   
she was currently strapped to a stretcher for transport down the   
stairs.  
  
McCoy had aided in the transport of the two less injured Senshi,   
keeping an eye on the two and handing them off to the medical   
personal at the base of the tower. Having seen to their safe transfer   
he had jogged back up the stairs. Coming up the stairs he saw that   
the other two Senshi were being prepped for moving and was just in   
time to see Venus awaken. Damn, they have strong constitutions. the   
two remaining individuals were the Senshi with the very long hair and   
the man, both whom appeared to be currently guarded by two cats. As   
he expected he found Clark holding the child in his arms and   
comforting her.  
  
Seeing the other medical personal otherwise involved with the   
transportation, he move to those two. They had been ignored till now,   
as they seemed to be suffering only from the Juuban Illness, their   
bodies were mostly free of any burns, rips, cuts or anything else   
suggesting battle. Moving up to the girl he pulled out a smelling   
salt and placed it under her nose, he then proceeded to do the same   
thing with the man.  
  
The reaction from the girl was fast and very abrupt, she almost   
collided with him as she sat up, and only her high pitch squeal   
alerted him and allowed him to dodge out of the way of her head.   
"Yeek!!!! LUUUNNAAA that is not funny! I am getting up, you don't   
have to.." She trailed off realizing that she was not home in her   
bed, and Luna was not the one responsible for waking her.  
  
Instead she found herself looking up at a man dressed in black who   
was kneeling over her. A groan from her left indicated that Tuxedo-  
kamen had awoken, though he chose a much more sedate method of   
awakening. Instead of the shrill scream he just grumbled about his   
head hurting.  
  
Clark hearing the screech turned his head towards the source and   
spied her now sitting upright. Feeling a fidget in the buddle that he   
carried he barely managed to get it near to the ground before the   
child bolted straight into the arms of Sailor Moon. The two girls   
fiercely embraced each other and were soon joined by Tuxedo-kamen.  
  
"Well boss it seams that they are all right." Announced McCoy  
  
"Yes it does." Replied Clark  
  
Sailor Moon after comforting herself with ChibiUsa's presence stood   
up and walked over towards Clark, with ChibiUsa's hand clenched in   
her own. "Excuse me sir, but what of the other Senshi?"  
  
"They have been taken to receive medical attention. Two of them were   
very seriously hurt, but the one in orange had at least regained   
consciousness by the time they carried her out." This appeased Sailor   
Moon greatly. "Now if you would kindly come with us we can take you   
to see them," he said as a group of Military Police came up.  
  
He did not want to do this part, but he had his orders. All   
participants were to be taken into custody. Questions existed which   
needed answers, and the host nation was determined to get those   
anyway possible. He also understood their hidden reason, they were   
afraid. These individuals showed tremendous power, they were afraid   
of what might happen if they decide to overthrow the current   
government and make themselves the rulers of Japan.  
  
Tuxedo-kamen was just getting ready to politely refuse the escort   
when a commotion came from the stairs.  
  
*********  
A little earlier  
  
"Yes, I would say this is the place." Uranus said in her dry humor.  
  
"You two go keep an eye on the princess, I will go check on her   
guardians." Announced Pluto.  
  
"That might be a little difficult seeing as they are military."   
Uranus pointed out.  
  
Pluto's only reply was a "you'll see" smile and then she jumped down   
to the ground. As she leapt off the building she gave the two one   
last piece of information "By the way the princess is now fighting as   
a Sailor Senshi." Hitting ground Pluto shifted her form to that of   
her Setsuna personality equipped this time with a lab coat. Pulling   
out from her dimensional pocket she placed on the coat the correct   
set of Ids. If they were run through any computer they would come up   
as fake, but they were sufficient for what she needed. They were   
relics of a previous timeline. Pluto tended not to toss things as one   
never knew when they would be needed again, especially considering   
that she was for ever running the rapids that were the river of time,   
time after time.  
  
Setsuna walked up to the ambulance that held Mercury and flashing her   
ID boarded it. As the vehicle raced towards the hospital she   
conferred with the other emergency personal and learned that all the   
Senshi were all in reasonable shape. Mercury and Venus might be down   
for the moment, but their Senshi forms were extremely difficult to   
kill. Their magic would keep them alive till the wounds could be   
closed and blood added. Or they could just wait about two weeks for   
their bodies' accelerated healing to sufficiently heal themselves to   
a level safe for their semi-human forms. But, a quick visit to the   
emergency room and they should be all set to leave and not miss any   
school tomorrow, and she knew how pissed Mercury would be if she   
missed school.  
  
*********  
  
"By the way, the princess is now fighting as a Sailor Senshi." Were   
Pluto's last words as she dropped out of sight.  
  
"Did she just say?" asked Neptune  
  
"Yes she did, so the little princess has decided to play with the   
rest of us." Uranus responded with a smirk "Guess that means that she   
would be Sailor Moo." and she trailed off as the connection came   
clear.  
  
The two of them stood in stunned silence for a moment as the true   
realization of who Sailor Moon was sunk in. "I can't believe we were   
so blind. We should have remembered that there was no Sailor Moon,   
and at minimum realized that Sailor Moon had to be the Moon Princess.   
All those times we left the battle or did not help enough." Uranus   
continued with regret  
  
Neptune stood up against Uranus "Uranus, she is now fighting as a   
Sailor Senshi, which means that she can handle those situations and   
we need to let her learn to fly even if it means that she will fall   
some of the time. Plus we never left the battle if it did not look   
like they could handle the situation. We just should have stayed   
around anyways to keep an eye on the princess in case things changed.   
Now come we need to go find our princess."   
  
With Uranus's nod they jumped down and headed towards the tower.   
Unlike Pluto, they remained in their Senshi forms, quickly attracting   
the attention of those present. A chorus of "Halts" came their way,   
but they just quickly bounded over the soldiers and into the tower.   
Moments later they arrived at the observation deck and moved out from   
the staircase.  
  
The soldiers maintaining the perimeter after recovering from the   
sudden appearance of two more Sailor Senshi, moved to intercept the   
two new Senshi, but were just brushed aside by them. Uranus and   
Neptune moved over to where Sailor Moon was standing. With a quick   
bow they announced themselves "Princess it is good to see you again,   
if you and ChibiMoon will come with us we can get you to a safer   
place." Turning to address Endymion, Uranus continued "Prince   
Endymion you may come with Serenity if you desire."  
  
"Wait a moment these two need to come with us for some questioning."   
Stated one of the MPs.   
  
Neptune turned to look at that particular soldier with an icy glare.   
"I don't think that will be necessary soldier. Remember that the two   
of us were not involved in that battle and are fully rested."  
  
"It is alright soldier," Clark added, "I already have a good idea of   
what happened. Plus I am sure that if they feel that we need to be   
notified of what is happening they will tell us." The last part he   
said while looking at Sailor Moon with a plea in his eyes.  
  
"Thank you sir." Replied Neptune, and then the last of the Senshi   
left the observation deck.  
  
"Looks like you managed to put yourself in hot water again, eh Boss?"   
questioned one of Chavez.  
  
"Probably, however, I have a feeling that they are truly on our side.   
I could see it in the eyes of their leader, the love that radiated   
there could never intentionally do anyone harm. Plus she has too much   
guilt on her currently about what happened here and worry about the   
other Senshi to make it worse with an interrogation.  
  
*********  
A military hospital  
  
Dr. Chambers walked out of the operating room, pulling off her   
gloves, having finished two hours of intensive surgery. Walking over   
to the other operating room she pulled the chart of its patient. This   
one, like hers, had required intensive surgery, but also appeared   
that she would make a full recovery.  
  
Taking the two charts she headed to her desk. Picking up two   
additional charts and donning her lab coat she made a quick call and   
then headed back into the hall. Tonight was likely to be a long   
shift, but after she finished with this meeting, she at least should   
be able to get some sleep. How much depended on how long the meeting   
lasted and how long her patients remained asleep.  
  
"Dr. Chambers glad you could join us." Greeted one of the men at the   
table. A guard closed the door behind her. Sitting around the table   
were twelve individuals, most wearing military uniforms. Those not in   
uniform were likely intelligence, and at the head of the table was   
the Defense Minister. "You probably could use some sleep, so we will   
try to keep this short." finished the Defense Minister.  
  
"First how are the patients?" asked one of the other members.  
  
"All four are in stable condition and are expected to make a full   
recovery. I don't know how the two more severely injured ones   
survived, as they should have been dead upon arrival. I have also   
added a sedative, as requested, to all their IVs. This should keep   
them down for at least twelve hours." Dr. Chambers replied.  
  
"But, that sedative should keep a strong healthy person down for at   
least twenty-four hours." The same person protested.  
  
"I know, the reduced time is based upon what I have been able to   
determine of their unique physiology. This is a conservative guess,   
more likely they will be down will be down for somewhere between   
those two values."  
  
"I guess that is not too surprising, considering what we know about   
these individuals. In the interest of keeping this short, could you   
give us a brief report on their injuries? We understand that you have   
not had time to investigate anything, and don't be afraid of giving   
voice to wild ideas." said the Defense Minister  
  
"As you know, two of our patients Mercury and Venus had very severe   
injuries requiring surgery. The other two, which we have also   
tentatively identified as Mars and Jupiter, showed less severe   
injuries.  
  
"The one known as Mars appears to be suffering primarily from a   
concussion and battery. Jupiter also suffers has significant bruising   
on her body, but also has burn marks on her skin and clothing that   
are consistent with electrical burns. Both would probably be up and   
about now, if it were not for being sedated.  
  
"The other two are a different story. By all reason those two should   
be dead. Both have suffered a substantial laceration wound with   
surrounding 2nd and 3rd degree burns. My best guess as to the cause is   
that they were both impacted with sort of blade composed of energy.   
How such a thing would be possible is beyond me, but that type of   
attack would explain their injuries. It would appear that their suits   
disrupted most of the attack, turning the lacerating energy primarily   
into what could be best termed a plasma blast. Even still the   
lacerations caused them to lose over two units of blood each.  
  
"Kami-sama" replied the Defense Minister trying to fathom that much   
blood loss and not being fatal.  
  
*********  
Elsewhere in the hospital  
  
While the doctor in charge of the Senshi was giving her report, Pluto   
was checking in on the Senshi's conditions for herself. In her guise,   
she checked on each of their charts. She did not like what she saw;   
each of them had been injected with a powerful sedative. They would   
be down for around fifteen hours, and then still be a fairly groggy.   
However, she needed to get them moved out tonight while the military   
thought them still to be too weak. Which would be another problem,   
Venus and Mercury could move, but should probably avoid anything   
strenuous such as jumping with their stitches.  
  
Pluto knew what she had to do; unfortunately it would prevent her   
from being able to serve her princess for a while longer. However,   
she did not have an option.  
  
*********  
Michiru's house, earlier  
  
It was nearing seven that night when Sailor Uranus and Neptune   
arrived with the royal family. Landing from their final leap in the   
backyard, they released their transformations. Michiru wanted to talk   
with her princess some, but she could see that her energy levels were   
already dropping again and instead went inside to make some dinner   
calling Haruka with her. "Make yourself at home, we will go fix some   
quick dinner, you look famished. You probably should call your   
parents and tell them that you will be staying the night here so that   
they don't get worried." Michiru said as she went entered the house  
  
"Hai." Replied Usagi as she made her way over to the phone.  
  
"Moshi Moshi" came the voice of her mom.  
  
"Hi mom, we have ChibiUsa back again."  
  
"Thank god." Came Ikuko's reply. There was a momentary pause on the   
phone as Usagi heard her mother call to the others in the family and   
tell them the good news.  
  
"Usagi, honey are you ok?" asked her father  
  
"Yes dad I am ok, just very tired with memories returning now.   
ChibiUsa is fine as well." Then with a little sniffle she continued,   
"The other Senshi, however, are not so lucky. Uranus says that they   
were all taken away in military ambulances. I don't know what their   
condition is. Ami and Minako both got hit hard by Kunzite." At the   
end she broke down into tears unable to continue. Mamoru who had been   
beside her, put his arm around her in an attempt to lend her some   
strength.  
  
"Don't worry dear, I am sure that they will be ok. Where are you   
now?"  
  
"I am at Neptune's place, she and Uranus are fixing dinner. I am not   
sure what their Tehran names are yet. I will probably be spending the   
night."  
  
"That is ok dear. Just give us a call in the morning when you awake,   
OK?" her mother had expected something like this ahead of time. She   
had a sneaking suspicion that following today's events with ChibiUsa   
the Senshi might not want to let her out of their sight for a little   
while.  
  
"Thanks mom, see you tomorrow." finished Usagi as she hung up the   
phone. There was one last person that needed to be called, actually   
two people but both were probably at the same place. Picking up the   
phone again, this time she called Naru's place.  
  
*********  
Naru's place  
  
"Thanks Usagi-chan for letting me know. I hope the others are all   
right." Naru said as she finished her telephone conservation.  
  
Getting up she walked over to where her mother was sitting with   
Hotaru, "Mom, Hotaru-chan I just got off the phone with Usagi,   
ChibiUsa is all right." As she said that, Hotaru jumped for joy and   
ran to embrace Naru for bringing the good news Unfortunately the   
other Senshi do not seem to be so lucky, I really hope they are all   
right for Usagi's sake. It would destroy her if any of them have to   
be hospitalized, not to mention if they were killed. Though, can't   
let mom or Hotaru know about that or they might start asking   
questions.  
  
"Hotaru-chan it is starting to get late, why don't I walk you home.   
You're father is probably starting to get worried." Naru suggested.  
  
"Hai" replied Hotaru as she got up.  
  
"How are you feeling? You look a lot better than you did earlier."   
Asked Naru as they began walking down the street.  
  
"I feel ok. I just get fainting spells a lot, and I was really   
worried about ChibiUsa.  
  
"I understand, from how you have described ChibiUsa she is a lot like   
her cousin, Usagi. Both of them make very good friends."  
  
Hotaru initially had been a little frightened of this girl. But, when   
she had introduced herself as a good friend of ChibiUsa's cousin,   
Hotaru decided to give her the benefit of the doubt. While they   
waited for Usagi's call they had talked about both Usagi and ChibiUsa   
and very quickly found the two girls to be almost identical in many   
of their traits. Naru still had trouble swallowing the explanation   
that Usagi had unknowingly blurted out. Forgetting the impossibility   
of it, it completely explained everything. If it was true, Naru had a   
strong feeling that she would be seeing a lot of Hotaru in the near   
future, as she doubted Usagi would let ChibiUsa out of her sight for   
more than a few seconds.  
  
Arriving at the house, Naru made ready to leave when the door opened   
to reveal Dr. Tomoe. "Hotaru I am so glad that you are all right. You   
must be Naru-san, I thank you for looking after her. I hope that   
ChibiUsa was safely rescued?" he asked referring to when Hotaru had   
called home to say she was okay after the blast in the mall.  
  
"Yes she is. She was no problem to look after. We spent most of the   
afternoon comparing notes on ChibiUsa and Usagi." Replied Naru  
  
"Why don't you come in and have some tea?" Dr. Tomoe asked. Naru had   
been planning on taking her leave then, but she knew it would be rude   
to refuse the offer; anyways she had enjoyed talking with Hotaru. So   
she accepted.  
  
*********  
Michiru's house  
  
"mmm this is good." Usagi mumbled between bites of food. With the   
serving of dinner her energy had begun to return. She still remained   
subdued, as she did not know the condition of the other Senshi.  
  
Both Usagi and ChibiUsa were on their second helpings when a figure   
entered the room. "PU!" cried ChibiUsa as she got up and ran to give   
the older woman a hug.  
  
"Small lady, I am glad to see that you are all right." Picking   
ChibiUsa up, she walked to where the others were sitting at the table   
and sat down. Before talking she got a plate and began putting some   
food onto it. After eating some she began her report. "The other   
Senshi appear to be okay. Mercury and Venus were badly injured, but   
they will recover fully. They have had stitches to close up their   
wounds and received large blood transfusions. Princess I am going to   
need your help in getting them out.  
  
"Sure, when do we go?" replied a very eager Usagi.  
  
"Tonight at 1 am, security should be the lightest then." Pluto   
responded and continued after noticing the eager looks on the other's   
eyes. "I am sorry but only the princess will be able to help, the   
rest of you would unfortunately stick right out."  
  
"Huh?" replied Uranus  
  
*********  
The military hospital  
  
An inner room contained four gurneys, each one holding a Sailor   
Senshi. Periodically a nurse would come by and check on them;   
otherwise the room was unoccupied. Outside stood two MPs. The   
sedative was still strong in their blood streams, so the doctors had   
assured the security detail that they had nothing to worry about till   
morning, at least from those Senshi.  
  
A doctor and her intern, a very pretty intern noticed one of the two   
guards, approached the two. "We need to take some blood to run some   
tests." The doctor stated while showing them her ID.  
  
"No problem ma'am, this way please." He said while unlocking and   
opening the door.   
  
The two guards followed the doctor and intern into the room. The two   
medical personal first moved to check on the patients, and then the   
doctor moved to stand in the middle of the four beds. The illusion of   
this being nothing more than a routine medical test was shattered   
with the phrases: "Pluto Planet Power.." "Moon Crystal Power." "Make-  
Up!" The two guards were left slacked jawed as they saw what they had   
thought to be two meds undergo their transformation. In particular   
they were drawn to Usagi's transformation and the brief appearance of   
her wings.  
  
Finishing, Pluto held up her staff, the orb at the top pulsing. Four   
domes in the room appeared, one over each Senshi. Inside each of the   
domes time sped up, hours became seconds, allowing the sedatives to   
be purged from their systems. Sailor Moon moved to each bed to help   
up the awakening Senshi after the domes had once again vanished. As   
each one awoke they softly cried "Sailor Moon" as they saw her safe.   
For each she told them no time, they had to get up and go.  
  
"How are we going to get out of her? We just can't waltz out" asked   
Mars.  
  
"The Sailor Teleport." Simply replied Pluto who had replaced her   
staff in her dimensional pocked. And, to their blank stars she added,   
"you will know what to do. Now hurry those guards are starting to   
realize that they should do something."  
  
As the Sailor Senshi moved to form the circle the two MPs moved   
inward, one of them pulling out a radio to sound the alarm. Their   
approach was slowed when Mercury summoned her fog bank. Though even   
in the fog they could sort of make out what happened next. As,   
suddenly six pillars of light could be seen in front of them, one   
appearing after each Senshi called out her planet's power. With the   
finishing of the spell, the lights became extremely bright and in a   
pulse passed through the room's ceiling. With the departure of the   
Sailor Senshi the fog bank vanished and the guards were left in an   
empty room (though as this was the first teleport attempt for the   
Senshi, other than Pluto, the floor had not survived too well).   
  
"This is not good." stated one of the guards to his partner.  
  
"You said it, I am not looking forward to explaining this. On the   
bright side we at least have some more intel on their powers. Those   
doctors were very mistaken about how long the Senshi would be down."  
  
*********  
A bar near the Zama joint Japanese US military base ~11pm  
  
Keffer sat at the bar with other members of his squadron toasting   
their good fortune of not actually confronting a monster today. "I   
tell you the world is coming to an end. I thought those people who   
predicted the end to be utter wackos, but look at what we are facing.   
Story book monsters that are as hard to take out as a fortified   
bunker."  
  
"I know what you mean Keffer-san. This is just absurd. How long till   
they decide to evacuate the city?" replied one of the squadron   
members  
  
"Never. They would never admit that they had lost that much control   
over the situation. Though the key government officials are likely to   
find a reason to be elsewhere soon. Hey, wasn't there something in   
the news about the prime minister heading over to the middle east to   
try to help broker a peace deal?" replied another  
  
"Yeah, you are right. I was puzzled by that, but now it makes sense,   
if they are trying to get out of dodge while they still can." Replied   
the first  
  
"I just hope that they don't do anything foolish, the rumor going   
around is that they have taken some of the Senshi into custody."   
Keffer added.  
  
The squadron spent their evening off base continuing to discuss the   
various rumors they had heard about the Senshi. Eventually it got   
late enough that they began to head back, Keffer remained a bit   
longer than the rest. Gaining strength from the solitude of the   
empting bar, and putting his worries to rest, he also stood and   
grabbed his coat and headed out.  
  
Walking down the street trying to enjoy the simple pleasure of a   
peaceful night he missed the bright flash behind and above him that   
accompanied the expulsion of an object back into a bane from the   
megaverse. The small gray furry object, curled up into a sphere,   
struck him in the back of the head, knocking him to the ground.   
Rubbing his head, he sat up trying to figure out what had hit him. He   
heard some moaning and what sounded like someone asking "what   
happened" and "oh that hurts." Looking around for the source of the   
noise he found a small gray kitten. The kitten was the source of the   
moans "my mind must have been playing tricks on me in thinking that I   
was hearing voices. Where did you come from little one?" He asked the   
cat as he picked it up.  
  
The kitten looked up into his eyes, however she had trouble   
maintaining eye contact from the headache she had. Instead she turned   
her head back down and moaned a bit more. "You must have hit yourself   
hard little one, here let me take you back to the base, I should be   
able to find some cream for you."   
  
Carrying the kitten he began walking back to base. "That is an   
interesting mark you have on your forehead their, an upturned   
crescent moon."  
  
*********  
Michiru's house  
  
A large flash of light announced the arrival of the Sailor Senshi.   
The four guardians looked around trying to figure out where they had   
landed. "This isn't the shrine? Usagi where are we?" asked Minako. As   
she finished her question they became aware of the presence of two   
others in the yard with them. This caused the guardians to tense up   
and form a wall in front of Sailor Moon.  
  
"It's okay, minna" Usagi stated as she pushed through the wall that   
her guardians had made. Then indicating to the two strangers she   
continued "This is Haruka-san, Sailor Uranus, and this is Michiru-  
san, Sailor Neptune."  
  
Neptune continued "Mamoru-san is inside keeping an eye on the   
sleeping ChibiUsa. Now come, you four are probably tired and need   
some real rest."  
  
As the four guardians began to enter the house Pluto stood back with   
a slight smile on her face, knowing that she had made the right   
choice and prepared to face the consequences. Consequences which now   
took effect. With a surprised moan she collapsed to her knees as her   
body was wracked by pain and her time staff vanished from her hand.  
  
Usagi saw Pluto collapsed and ran over to help her. "Pluto-san what's   
wrong."  
  
"Nothing my princess, I violated one of your rules in my duty as   
Guardian of Spacetime, and now I must face the consequence. [moan] I   
am forbidden to stop the flow of time."  
  
"But you didn't." protested Usagi  
  
"I know, which is why I am still allowed to be here. But, I bent the   
rule and sped up time."  
  
"But I have not created any rules." Usagi gave one more futile   
protest  
  
"You will, and have before in previous timelines. It matters not as I   
am still bound by those rules. For the next four days I will be   
without my connection to time, I will be unable to fight beside you,   
as I do not know how to fight without using time as one of my   
senses." as she said this final part she assumed her Setsuna glamour,   
indicative that their would be no Sailor Pluto for the next four   
days.  
  
*********  
A Tokyo Alley  
  
Tokyo may be a relatively crime free town, but it still has its share   
of crime. For Kunzite this was a blessing and a curse at the same   
time. As moments after he teleported into the alley he felt an object   
being stuck into his ribs and a voice telling him to hand over his   
money. He had to fight the urge to laugh out loud and show this   
pathetic human who he was really dealing with. He had been wandering   
how he was going to get rid of that box that Beryl gave him, the   
contents gave him the creeps and he did not want to hold onto it   
longer than he had to.  
  
"I don't have any money on me, I just purchased this gift for me   
wife." Kunzite said with his best attempt to sound scared. With slow   
movements he removed the case and gave it to the man.  
  
The man seeing the ornate box, his eyes gleamed with anticipation.   
That looks like its worth quite a bit of change. With a shove he   
threw Kunzite to the ground. "If you know what's good for you, you   
will stay like that for a while." And then left.  
  
Waiting till he was sure the man had left, Kunzite picked himself up   
off the ground and continued walking. That task taken care of, now   
to figure out how to get the Ginzuishou, guess I could always try   
that child again. Wait a moment if the child is the daughter of   
Princess Serenity, I wonder."  
  
*********  
Rubeus's apartment  
  
Strewn around a table in the apartment were various papers, all   
involving the Rabbit. He chuckled as he remembered when they were   
delivered. That boy could not get over how that child had just   
suddenly appeared in the paper work, and had no history over a few   
months. And, further more why she looked so much like her cousin, so   
much so that it was uncanny.  
  
Pulling out a picture of the family she was staying with, he had to   
smile, as the resemblance to that blond haired girl with odango   
styled hair was just too similar. He knew that the Rabbit would   
probably be staying with her future mother, which he now knew to be   
Sailor Moon. So which of you in this picture is Neo-Queen Serenity?   
Well it obviously can't be that older woman she is too old. That   
leaves the blond haired girl, though she does not strike me as a   
warrior. But there is strong glamour magic afoot here.  
  
Picking up a report, he read it again. This particular one had   
quickly caught his attention; it detailed an incident at Juuban   
Junior High School. Apparently three of its students had suddenly run   
out of class and when they returned, two of them were severely   
injured and they also had the Rabbit with them. Further more one of   
those was that girl Tsukino Usagi. In the section describing the   
emotional states of those two students, it had mentioned that Tsukino   
Usagi had been completely devastated and that the following day the   
child had attended class with her.  
  
Well all evidence points to Tsukino Usagi being Neo-Queen Serenity,   
it is the only conclusion that makes sense. This will makes things   
just a tad bit easier once Metalia is eliminated. With that Rubeus   
put down the final papers and headed off to sleep.  
  
-End Chapter 14  
  
-This chapter came out much longer than I thought it was going   
to be, further more many of what I thought were going to be the   
main plot lines had to pushed off to later chapters.  
  
-Well so much for secret identities, they were nice while they   
lasted.  
  
-Mr. John Clark is the leader of a multi-government secret   
anti-terrorist organization, codenamed Rainbow 6. I will be   
borrowing him and his group from Tom Clancy's novels for a   
moment.  



	15. The Path of Sorrows

The Fraglity of Time  
Chapter 15: "The Path of Sorrows"  
Author: etj4Eagle  
Email: etj4Eagle@yahoo.com  
http://www.geocities.com/etj4eagle  
Lasted Edited: 9/9/00  
  
Disclaimer: A reminder I own none of the characters of this story,   
all rights are owned by others.   
If you distribute the story, do only   
so freely and inform me of where you post it.  
  
_______________________________________  
  
Keffer awoke to a furry object pressed against his face. Only partially   
awake and confused he fumbled around to turn on some light. When light   
finally did pierce the darkness he felt foolish discovering the object in   
question to only be the kitten from last night. Picking it up and petting it   
he said, "Hope you slept well. We should see about finding your owner   
today, too bad you don't have any tag on that collar." Putting Diana down   
on the bed he got up and dressed. "Come lets see if we can find you   
something to eat."  
  
Diana liked that option and jumped up onto his head to ride to breakfast.   
Her leap and landing startled Keffer causing him to wobble for a moment.  
  
Huh? "Ah, so you like to ride around on the head. Never heard of a cat   
that liked doing that before, but hey you are less likely to wander off and   
get hurt that way." With that he opened the door and headed to breakfast.  
  
"Hey, Keffer nice hat." Greeted one of the other airmen as he entered the   
mess line. "Did not know that you were a cat person, though how did you   
get it to ride your head like that?"  
  
"I found this little fellow last night, she kind of flew into my head. I could   
not find any tags on her, so I brought her back here for now. As for it   
riding my head, well that must be the doing of its master." Replied Keffer  
  
Diana herself sat wide-eyed on his head looking all around the place.   
While she was use to crowds, it was always in the company of one of her   
parents or small lady, never by herself. She trusted this Keffer person to   
look out for her, but still she felt lost with all the airmen around. Plus she   
did not like the loud noise of the jets rumbling as they took off and landed.   
  
Arriving at the table Keffer put down his tray. After placing a bowl from   
his tray to the side he carefully picked the kitten off from his head and   
placed her down next to that dish, which contained cream. At first   
conversation at the table proceeded along the common mundane topics,   
but it was not long till they began to breach yesterday's events. "Have you   
guys heard the news?" asked Ivoniva.  
  
Receiving a series of "No's" she continued "Well those Sailor Senshi that   
they took to the military hospital yesterday vanished in the middle of the   
night. The guards claim that they just disappeared in a flash of light that   
arced up through the ceiling. Furthermore I have heard that two of them   
should for all intensive purposes be dead, for all the blood they lost. But   
following their surgery they appeared to be in perfectly healthy   
conditions."  
  
A series of choking sounds drew their attention towards Diana. What   
happened to the Sailor Senshi? she wondered. Keffer looked worriedly at   
the kitten, but then had to chuckle as the cat showed signs of a blush from   
the mess it had made. Never thought cats could blush. "Guess your   
news startled this little fellow" he said while cleaning up the cream she   
had spilled onto the table and herself.  
  
As he finished drying her off he noticed that she was trembling a bit. At   
first he thought that she might have taken some of the cream the wrong   
way, but she seemed otherwise fine. Then remembering what caused her   
to choke in the first place he realized that for some reason the kitten was   
scared. "Don't worry little one, from what I here the Sailor Senshi are fine.   
That little vanishing stunt they pulled obviously proves that they are   
perfectly fine." he said attempting to reassure her while also petting her.   
The gentle words seemed to do the trick and her trembling stopped.   
Placing her back on his head he grabbed his dishes to bus and left to begin   
his morning.  
  
********  
Michiru's house  
  
Some of the Sailor Senshi were in near prefect condition, however, others   
were still in pretty bad shape. Usagi and ChibiUsa did not have any   
physical wounds left from the battle; the minor wounds Usagi had gotten   
from Kunzite's attack (an attack that had seriously injured Mercury and   
Venus) were fully healed. However, the two of them were suffering from   
deep mental anguish as a result of what happened. Sleep had only come   
for them and Mamoru after Pluto gave each of them a tea made from an   
ancient herb to drink.   
  
The effects had worn out in the early dawn hours for both Usagi and   
ChibiUsa, with the two awakening within moments of each other.   
Deciding not to bother the others they had slipped out into the yard and   
onto the roof to watch the gradually brightening night sky in anticipation   
of sunrise. They sat up there with ChibiUsa in Usagi's lap for many hours   
just watching the sky.  
  
Shortly after the sun began to rise, Mamoru awoke. Following his   
connection to Usagi he found her and the child sitting on the roof and he   
moved to join them, placing an arm around Usagi's shoulder he pulled her   
slightly so that she adjusted to lean against his chest. No words were   
exchanged initially.  
  
The sounds of the neighbors awakening to the new day brought Usagi out   
of the trance like state she had been in. Turning to look Mamoru in the   
eyes she spoke "Mamo-chan I would like you to meet our daughter   
ChibiUsa-chan." She said while indicating the now alert child in her lap.  
  
Mamoru looked at the child for a moment before speaking, taking a   
moment to really see how she looked like her mother. He also for the first   
time noticed certain features of hers that she had to have inherited from   
himself. Opening his arms, she crawled into them and he pulled her up   
into a hug. "So you are my daughter. You look a lot like your mother. You   
must make her proud."  
  
"Thank you" ChibiUsa replied before snuggling deeper into his embrace.  
  
As the hour approached seven the Guardians awoke and began looking for   
their princess. After turning the house inside out and searching the yard,   
Rei finally found them snuggled together on the roof. "Hey odango-atama,   
why don't you try leaving a note next time you pull a little vanishing stunt   
like that" complained Rei who had been going out of her mind looking for   
Usagi.  
  
"You know you could have just tried the communicator." Usagi replied  
  
"I did, but you left it by the bed." Rei returned. What followed was a nice   
little tongue fight between the two, which was only finally broken up by   
Haruka who had been sent by Makoto to fetch them for breakfast.  
  
For once the two Usagis entered slowly for a meal, neither having quite   
regained their appetite after yesterday's events. Spying Ami and Mina   
Usagi smiled a bit before quickly heading over to check on how they were   
doing. "Ami-chan, Mina-chan how are you two this morning. Do you need   
anything?"  
  
"We are fine Usagi." Reassured Minako  
  
"The cuts are nearly healed, though our stitches will need to be in for a   
few more days." Answered Ami, and then turning to Minako she   
continued, "Minako-chan that means no volleyball or anything else that   
may cause stretching till I remove those stitches. Understand?"  
  
Minako under the gaze of the not-to-be-crossed-doctor gave her assent,   
and Artemis added his "Don't worry Ami-chan I will keep an eye on her."   
which earned him a glare from Minako.  
  
Makoto's loud clearing her throat reminded them all why they were in the   
dinning room in the first place. Making a hasty retreat to their seats they   
all sat down and began to eat.  
  
********  
Juuban Junior High: A few minutes before the first bell  
  
Haruna-senshi looked up from her desk as she heard a familiar high-  
pitched voice coming down the hall. Looking at the room clock she was   
startled to realize that Usagi was early. While she was now usually on   
time; she, however, was never this early. Before she could give the   
thought much contemplation Usagi, Ami, Makoto, and ChibiUsa entered   
the room.  
  
Her eyes were immediately drawn to the small child, who accompanied   
Usagi. She quickly noticed how the two of them were walking, with Usagi   
protectively holding the child's hand. Oh no. Hasn't that child gone   
through enough already? Can't those monsters find someone else to attack   
other than small children? She thought realizing that ChibiUsa had to   
have been in another monster attack.  
  
Getting up she walked over to greet the child. Kneeling down slightly she   
addressed ChibiUsa "Konnichiwa ChibiUsa-chan, will you be joining us   
again today?"  
  
"If that is no problem with you Haruna-senshi" replied Usagi while the   
ChibiUsa gave a pleading tentative nod while moving back slightly into   
Usagi's skirt.  
  
"It is no problem, Usagi-chan. Here lets bring a desk next to yours and get   
some books to help boost ChibiUsa up. Now ChibiUsa, you make sure   
your cousin stays awake during class ok?" With ChibiUsa's more eager   
nod she went about getting a place set up for the child.  
  
Soon after ChibiUsa was settled, Naru entered the room and spying Usagi   
moved right on over to her. The two girls embraced while Naru babbled   
on about how happy she was to see that ChibiUsa was okay. Looking at   
Ami sitting at her desk she lowered her voice before asking "I thought you   
said that Ami was hurt badly during the battle? She looks fine."  
  
"She was, but we can take a lot of punishment, plus we heal a lot faster.   
However, she does have stitches." Replied Usagi  
  
Bending over a bit Naru addressed ChibiUsa. "I am so glad that you are   
not hurt. Hotaru was so relieved to hear that you were fine. I have a   
feeling that she would really like it if you paid her a visit soon. By the way   
that is a great friend that you have in Hotaru." To Usagi's questioning eye   
she elaborated. "We got to know each other really well while we were   
waiting to here word from you, and then I joined her father for some tea."   
With the ringing of the final bell the two broke apart and sat down, getting   
ready for class.  
  
********  
Elsewhere in the city  
  
A man lazily awoke to the new morning. He normally awoke late, as there   
was no reason to awake any earlier in the day, for he had not held a job for   
many years. He had no need for one, as his line of work provided him with   
a sufficiently steady income. He did not desire much, for most of the   
senses that dealt with desire had been fried after a particularly bad trip.   
Now all he desired was heroin, however having picked up the habit of   
picking wallets and occasional muggings he had no need for any other   
source of income.  
  
Rested and with his morning dose of heroin entering his blood stream he   
pulled out what he had acquired the previous evening. The night's work   
consisted of two wallets and a very ornate box. He was sure that even if   
the box was empty that the box itself would be worth a fair bit of change.  
  
Opening the box he looked inside and then removed its contents. It   
contained a half dozen oddly shaped rocks that felt almost alive in his   
hand. The feeling was eerie enough that he dropped the first one when he   
had picked up. "Dang I doubt I will be able to get much for these rocks, at   
least the box should be worth something." A glimmer off the smallest of   
the items caught his attention and he brought it to his eye to examine,   
hoping that maybe the exterior was just a coating hiding a real treasure.   
  
Unfortunately he never got the item up to his eyes for as it passed by the   
base of his neck it pulsed and before he knew it, it was latched to his body.   
With terror he tried to rip the device off of his neck, however it had   
fastened itself too securely. He did not struggle for long, as it did not take   
the device long to override his brain's control of the body's muscles. As   
he slumped to the ground the other devices began to hum to life as the   
tendrils of energy from the control nexus joined with them. Reenergized   
the parts of millennia old armor and weapon system began to reattach   
themselves to a host. Awakening the thing that once was a common thief   
uttered one word "Protect."  
  
********  
Juuban Junior High School  
  
The morning passed painfully slow for ChibiUsa. Unfortunately the only   
way ChibiUsa would have enjoyed the morning was if she could have   
stayed home in her mother's embrace for the entire day. But, Usagi had   
school, and considering everything this was the best that could be done.   
She was able to sit right next to her mother, and Usagi whenever she could   
she had a hand down in ChibiUsa lap for her to hold onto.  
  
ChibiUsa had planned on throwing quite a large tantrum if Usagi had sent   
her off to her own school. She was too scared after yesterday's events to   
let her mother out of sight for even a moment. Being here with Usagi   
helped to reassure her, but she was still afraid. She tried to tell herself that   
things would be okay here at the school, but whenever she heard a loud or   
strange noise she had to struggle to avoid jumping with fright. While she   
had with her a couple of schoolbooks to read, she made little progress   
preoccupied as she was.  
  
Usagi herself was having only a little better luck with her lessons, as she   
could feel ChibiUsa's fear radiate like a hot fire through her. Like Mamo-  
chan had done for her a couple of times, she tried to send some of her own   
energy into ChibiUsa to strengthen and reassure the child. She just wanted   
the day to end so that she could focus all her attention on ChibiUsa and   
gain strength from Mamo-chan's embrace.  
  
Usagi's inattentiveness of course did not go unnoticed by Haruna-sensei,   
but like the last time she understood somewhat what Usagi was going   
through. That girl has amazing love for one who is only her cousin, I   
wish I knew what happened, Ami being slightly distracted had surprised   
her, until she realized that Ami's distraction was a result of her constantly   
looking at Usagi. This was different than the periodic curious glances that   
the others students sent Usagi. No Ami and also Makoto would look to   
Usagi with a low level version of the same love that was present in   
Usagi's eyes towards that child. Realizing the source of Ami's distraction   
she had to hide a chuckle as she remembered that both Ami and Makoto   
were involved the last time something like this happened. Something   
tells me this is not a coincidence.  
  
Haruna-sensei wanted answers, but also knew that now was not the time.   
Her training required that she confront Usagi now, but she knew in her   
heart that this was not a case of abuse. However, it still was a strain for her   
to give her lessons while seeing the fear and insecurity that was constantly   
on the face of that child. All she wanted to do was dismiss class and have   
a talk with Usagi and ChibiUsa. And, so she too let a sigh of relief when   
the bell marked the time for lunch.  
  
With the ringing of the bell, the door to the classroom flew open. Moving   
quickly through the now open door and into the classroom was a dark   
haired student wearing a grayish school uniform. That is not one of ours,   
looks like the uniform for the T*A Academy.  
  
"Usagi-chan" cried the new arrival as she made her way quickly across the   
room to embrace the blond who was only just getting up from her desk.  
  
Usagi managed to squeak out a "Rei-chan what are you doing here?"   
before she was wrapped up in a crushing hug by Rei. Ignoring the question   
and the questioning stares from everyone else in the room, Rei started   
pulling her out to the courtyard for lunch while ChibiUsa trailed holding   
onto Usagi's other hand. Ami and Makoto followed close behind their two   
princesses, making sure no one got to close to either of the two on the way   
out.  
  
"I was definitely right about the others, though I am still missing   
something." Mumbled Naru as she watched as her best friend was taken   
out to lunch under the guard of the three other girls. Usagi had just   
unknowingly confirmed that Ami was Mercury as she suspected, as last   
night Usagi only referred to the Senshi by their planet names, not by their   
civilian names. And the behavior of Makoto and Rei were confirming her   
hypothesis that the other three that made up the group besides Ami and   
Usagi were also Senshi.  
  
Haruna came up behind Naru and placing a hand on the girl's shoulder   
said, "There definitely is something special about Tsukino Usagi. Her   
heart and love is so pure. I wish I could alleviate that pain she is feeling   
now. Naru do you know what the situation with her cousin is?"  
  
Naru's thoughts were not on the present, but instead on Usagi. She now   
knew quite a bit of the puzzle pieces, but was sure that she was missing   
something. Something that would explain the nearly fanatic way the others   
tried to protect Usagi at times, it had to be more than that her simply being   
their leader, but she could not figure out why. And then of course there   
was the issue of ChibiUsa, how that mother daughter relation could be was   
beyond her. She was going to have to have a little heart to heart with   
Usagi at some point, but that did not stop her mind from trying to figure   
everything out first, like just now deciding that Rei and Makoto were Mars   
and Jupiter.  
  
She never really registered Haruna's presence, nor her question.   
Consequently she did not realize that in answering the questions that now   
ran through her mind that she was speaking out loud, answering a question   
that someone had just asked. "The Dark Kingdom took Usagi's daughter,   
ChibiUsa, and tried to use her as bait for Sailor Moon who is Usagi. She   
did safely rescue her daughter, but from what she told me the battle was   
not pretty with the others almost getting cut down and the enemy torturing   
ChibiUsa before her eyes. I can't imagine what she is going through. I   
know that she is always worrying about the others being hurt, but now her   
own flesh and blood daughte." Naru trailed off at the end realizing that   
she was speaking out loud.  
  
For Haruna like everyone else who had seen how Usagi protectively   
watched out for ChibiUsa, this was a surprise but at the same time she   
realized that it perfectly explained everything and had to be the truth.   
"Don't worry about telling me Naru. I was going to have to confront Usagi   
about what happened. Now at least I know that this is not some kind of   
abuse in the home. And I think I may be able to help Usagi some, but you   
should head out to enjoy your lunch."  
  
"Hai." Responded Naru as she gathered her stuff and headed out the door.  
  
Haruna herself sat down at her desk to eat lunch, thinking about how   
everything now made sense. Hold on a moment, how can Usagi have an   
eight-year-old daughter? And what was that with the others? Hopefully   
Usagi will be forthcoming with explanations.  
  
********  
Outside  
  
As they arrived at the tree for lunch, Usagi contemplated chewing Rei out   
for coming here to watch her during lunch. However, as she looked around   
at all three of the girls she realized, for the first time, how much they   
really cared about her. Usagi thought about how much she loved ChibiUsa   
and how she would do anything to protect her daughter and looking into   
the eyes of the other Senshi she realized that they all felt the exact same   
way about her. Much as she needed ChibiUsa here with her for her own   
healing, they needed to be within eyesight of her. And, Mars needed   
confirmation with her own eyes that Usagi was okay so much that she   
came all the way here from her own school.  
  
So instead Usagi chose to ask Rei a different question "Rei how did you   
get here so fast, you did go to school today?"  
  
"Of course odango-atama, I just took the roof top express as soon as   
classes let out for lunch."  
  
Usagi mumbled an "I guess that makes sense." And returned to eating her   
lunch. However she had not gotten far when a black object dropped out of   
the tree to join her. "Luna!" exclaimed Usagi as she realized what the   
object was. "I guess you have been keeping an eye on me as well?"  
  
A sheepish nod of the cat caused Usagi to let out a sigh, but other than that   
she gave no more reactions to everyone keeping an eye on her. Instead she   
began to happily munch on her lunch. And then remembering something,   
"By the way Naru somehow found out."  
  
"Nani!!!" exclaimed the other girls. Then Ami continued with "Guess that   
makes sense. Naru is Usagi's best friend and she should have been able to   
notice the changes in our princess since ChibiUsa arrived." Ami's   
eyebrows lifted a bit as she noticed Rei scowling a bit when she   
mentioned that Naru was Usagi's best friend. Rei won't admit it but   
Usagi's her best friend and she is actually jealous of Naru  
  
Analyzing this information as she was, she was caught off guard by the   
arrival of Urawa. Now to be fair he had released his glamour so that he   
could move out of phase and sneak up on the girls. However, he had been   
standing behind her for a bit as his Urawa-self. Deciding that he had   
waited long enough he placed his hands over her eyes, causing a startled   
Ami to drop the book that she had been reading and her lunch.  
  
Turning around to see who it was, she came eye to eye with Urawa and a   
nice red blush began climbing up her cheeks, "Urawa-kun." Was all that   
she could say at first. Then regaining her composure she began to lecture   
him about making her drop her book and loose her place. This caused the   
others to just drop their heads and mutter, considering the fact that she was   
not upset at all about loosing her lunch, only the place in her advanced   
physics book.  
  
However, all too soon lunch was over and the girls and Urawa began to   
make to go back into the building, including one who did not belong in   
there. "And where do you think you are going Rei?" asked Usagi.  
  
A sheepish Rei attempted to protest and find an excuse to accompany   
Usagi, but Usagi would have none of it, and under her glare she turned   
back and moved to head back to her own school. Luna herself had headed   
back around the building to return to the perch that gave her viewing   
access to Usagi's classroom.  
  
********  
A nondescript apartment  
  
What only that morning had been a man got up off the ground, examining   
its surroundings for the first time. Where before the fellow was about 1.8   
meters tall, it now stood a tad over two meters. Its body was covered in   
what could best be described as armor plating and the right arm ended not   
in a hand but in a barrel of what was obviously some kind of dangerous   
energy weapon. With the uttered word "protect" it walked through the   
door of its former room.  
  
Leaving the building it came into contact with an individual. A homeless   
man walking down the street stared wide-eyed at the creature as it left the   
building. His feet were glued to the ground in terror, not that it mattered.   
As the creature instantly spotted him and raising its arm it released a blast   
of electrical energy with the word "protect." As the smoke cleared, chard   
dust was all that remained of the man, and the creature was nowhere to be   
found.  
  
********  
Juuban Junior High School  
  
The ring of the final bell singled release for both Usagi and ChibiUsa. By   
unspoken agreement the two Senshi followed their leader in the distance,   
allowing them to keep an eye on her while at the same time allowing her   
to be alone with ChibiUsa. They were actually quite surprised that Usagi   
was even allowing them to follow her, they were sure that she would have   
ordered them to leave her be.  
  
The walk to the park was thankfully less stressful than the walk to school,   
as ChibiUsa walked relatively normally next to Usagi, instead of holding   
onto to Usagi as if she was going to vanish at any given moment. Usagi   
glanced down at ChibiUsa with a smile on her face, glad that her daughter   
was starting to recover from yesterday's events. Feeling a tug on her arm,   
she looked up just in time to avoid walking into a pole.  
  
A bump on her head ached in sympathy; it was where she was beaned by   
multiple volleyballs during the day's Phys. Ed. class. She had been   
focusing her attention on ChibiUsa who had been sitting quietly watching   
the game and had not kept her eyes on the ball. So any ball that she should   
have hit, instead conked her on the head. But even with the balls hitting   
her on the head, she could not let ChibiUsa out of her sight for more than a   
few moments, or irrational fear for her daughter's safety would start to   
tear at her.  
  
But, now she would be able to spend the entire afternoon with her   
daughter without school getting in the way. Noticing a cart up ahead on   
the block Usagi asked, "Hey ChibiUsa want to go get some ice-cream?"   
  
"Hai."  
  
The two girls each soon had a double scoop ice-cream cone and began   
walking down towards the park's lake to enjoy them. Finding a bench the   
two sat down and Usagi let ChibiUsa lay back against her chest while   
wrapping a protective arm around her.  
  
********  
  
Another individual was taking advantage of the nice weather to walk   
around Tokyo. He had been in the city before, but like this time it was   
always on business. However, this time he actually had time to spare and   
enjoy the city. His men were analyzing the little bit of new information   
that they had been able to gather from yesterday's event, though, until   
another situation occurred he was essentially free.  
  
He had begun the walk in an attempt to clear his mind of his work,   
however that did not seem to be working. His mind kept returning to the   
faces of those young girls from yesterday. They were too young to be   
facing the kind of hardships that they did, and of course if they were too   
young, that child was definitely too young. He wondered what cruel twist   
of fate chose individuals who were only children to be the defenders   
against this enemy. At least those late two arrivals the other day appeared   
to be about the right age, a tad young, but old enough to be forced to bear   
those responsibilities.  
  
Arriving at the edge of a lake he stood and watched the waters lap up   
against the shore. He found their gentle regular motions to be peaceful and   
relaxing. He stood like that for around half an hour. Clark probably would   
have spent even more time like that if something did not start pulling at his   
subconscious.  
  
After years as an undercover agent he was always instinctively scanning   
the area for anything that may be amiss. While usually those things that   
registered as amiss turned out to be nothing after a closer glance.   
However, it would be the one time that he did not take notice that he   
would be in trouble. Wondering what had caught his attention he began   
discreetly examining his surroundings.  
  
A park bench along the lake, a few dozen yards distant from he stood, was   
what had drawn his attention. Standing in the distance were two people   
who were obviously watching the two girls who were sitting on the bench.   
Curious he glanced over at the two on the bench. Both had unusual   
hairstyles. A further examination showed that the older of the two was   
protectively holding the younger one, almost the way a mother would after   
a near tragedy. For some reason that image seemed familiar to him.  
  
Turning back to the lake's water he tried to figure out why those two   
seemed familiar. Their hairstyles were unique enough that he should easily   
remember where he had seen them. A slight movement in a tree caught his   
attention; looking up at first he did not see anything. But, then he caught   
site of a figure in the tree standing on a limb. What is that person doing   
up there, if they aren't careful they are going to fall. Wait a moment that   
looks like a Sailor Soldier.  
  
hmmm, she seems to also be keeping an eye on those two on the bench   
as well. Wait a moment what if the other two were also Sailor Soldiers,   
then that would make those two. That is why they seem so familiar.  
  
********  
  
Having finished her ice cream, Usagi dazed lightly with ChibiUsa leaning   
back into her. A shadow blocking the sun caused her to open her eyes and   
look up. Giving a slight "yelp" and jump she discovered the shadow to   
belong to a man that was standing in front of the bench. "Konichiwa" she   
managed to get out as her heart beat returned to normal.  
  
"Konichiwa, just wanted to say that you have a beautiful daughter Miss   
Moon. I am sure that you are proud of her. Ja" he said and then moved off.   
To answer her confusion over his shoulder he added "Princess I am an   
intelligence officer, it is my job to notice and figure these things out."  
  
Deciding to give up on figuring out how he found out her identity she   
called out "I am and thank you" to the departing man and let a smile of   
pride plaster itself on her face.  
  
Hearing Usagi's reply Clark added, "You might want to take a look at that   
tree behind you, I am sure that you will find it very interesting."  
  
"Huh?" But following his suggestion, Usagi got up and walked over to the   
tree. "Looks normal to me, just an oak. Seems healthy enough, strong   
branches with a bird's nest in one and a Sailor Senshi in the other. Now   
what was so special about this tree? Wait a moment, a Sailor Senshi?"  
  
Looking back up confirmed that indeed Sailor Mars was up in the tree.   
Usagi made eye contact with her guardian and began tapping her foot.   
Mars quickly got the message and after ensuring no one was watching   
jumped down and reverted to her civilian form. "And what do you think   
you were doing up in that tree, Rei?" asked Usagi.  
  
Rei thought about making a sharp retort, but could find none and instead   
just looked down at the ground. Hence she missed Usagi moving up   
beside her and throwing an arm around the Senshi of Fire. "Come you can   
keep a better eye on me and ChibiUsa if you sit on the bench here with   
us."  
  
A very surprised Rei walked next to Usagi back to the bench where   
ChibiUsa had been thoroughly enjoying the show, especially how long it   
took her mother to notice Sailor Mars. Rei had expected Usagi to yell at   
her, but instead got an arm wrapped around her. Not that she minded this   
approach, especially as she now could sit down next to the one whom she   
loved more than anything.   
  
Rei and Usagi spent the next hour chatting, while ChibiUsa continued to   
lie in her mother's embrace. Being in her mother's embrace and not   
having to worry about anything allowed her to really begin relaxing and   
healing from yesterday. And, as ChibiUsa's body became less tense, Usagi   
herself began to relax some as well.  
  
Mamoru thinking that his Usako and daughter might be in the park had   
headed there after classes let out. Once in he easily found the two of them   
by following the strong love they were radiating towards each other.   
Walking up he noticed his love engrossed in a conversation with Rei and   
so decided to surprise her. ChibiUsa saw him arrive, but just smiled when   
he put his finger to his mouth telling her to be quiet. Stopping behind   
Usagi he snaked out a pair of strong arms around Usagi's torso and lifted   
her up into the air.  
  
"Wha. Ahh" sputtered Usagi as her world suddenly started flying   
around. When the world settled itself back down she found herself looking   
into the face of Mamoru, but only for a moment. As his face quickly came   
towards hers and she closed her eyes as they kissed. Usagi felt herself melt   
into Mamoru's embrace and was fully content to spend eternity like this.  
  
However, before it had gone on too long (not long enough in her mind) an   
annoyed presence caused the two of them to break off. Mamoru looked   
down and saw ChibiUsa who was now standing next to the two of them   
with an impatient look on her face. Seeing that she now had his attention   
she cried "Daddy" and threw herself into his arms.  
  
Mamoru caught the child and relished in the warm feeling that holding her   
brought. With slight difficulty he moved around and sat down on the   
bench and Usagi joined him. How does Usagi do it, when she holds or   
carry ChibiUsa you would think ChibiUsa weighs nothing, but even for   
me it is strain. One that I don't mind putting up with, but still how does   
she do it so effortlessly. "So how were you two's day?" he asked.  
  
"Long" was the only response that Usagi gave. ChibiUsa nodded her   
agreement before adjusting her position in Mamoru's lap.  
  
********  
A warehouse  
  
"Rubeus I need you to deliver these items to our customer." Stated a man  
  
Rubeus gave the man a questioning look, as he had not done simple   
courier assignments for many months.  
  
"These particular items are very hard to come by and we can take no risk   
that they fall into the hands of the police or have to be ditched. I know that   
if I give them to you, they will be delivered."  
  
"Understood sir. I take it that these are those items that professor Tomoe   
requested." Rubeus replied.  
  
"Hai, and with that the man unlocked a trunk. Opening the lid confirmed   
again that these were not ordinary black market items, as inside there was   
a second trunk. However, this one had elaborate electronic locks and was   
made of a heavy reinforced metal. The outer trunk was of course only a   
disguise to avoid raising suspicions. With the correct codes entered the   
inner trunk opened to reveal a couple of small packages. The first a   
cylindrical container marked as radioactive and containing tritium. The   
second, third, and fourth were boxes also marked as radioactive and   
containing plutonium, obviously split up to avoid any chance of forming a   
critical mass. The final item was a water bottle filled with water, however   
this was pure heavy water, not the normal tap water.  
  
Rubeus took each of the packages and put them into carrying pockets in   
the cloak he wore. Then surprising the man and the guards he pulled out   
his weapon and placed it down on the table. Bringing his hands up he   
untied the bandana he wore revealing the black crescent moon. The final   
actions caused the guards to tense believing that they might have an   
infiltrator in their mist.  
  
Rubeus gave a laugh and then put their fears to rest, "Don't worry I am   
still loyal to this organization and I will make this delivery. We have very   
similar goals. However, you don't know the full background of your   
client, and so I need to be prepared. Ja." Finishing his little speech he   
teleported out of the building.  
  
"Kami-sama" replied the other man, "he is one of them, those people who   
have been on the news lately." But, then he began to smile as he realized   
what this meant. This fellow was obviously willing to work with them for   
the time being, and that meant they really had a super weapon. This might   
get him a nice reward for informing the upper echelons. Closing up the   
trunk, he singled to the guards and they left the warehouse.  
  
********  
Mugen High School  
  
A red haired man materialized about ten meters off the ground in front of   
the school building. Taking a moment he retrieved the black crystal shards   
and placed them ready against his wrists, knowing that he probably would   
only have a few moments of surprise to take control of the demons. Ready   
he began walking forward into the school.  
  
Entering the building he turned down a hall looking for the lab   
administrative offices. With the advanced laboratory work that Mugen   
carried out, there were separate offices for the standard school   
administration and for its research department. Going down a flight of   
stairs to the first basement level he arrived at the lab administration office.   
Pulling out a business card he checked a name and then headed to the desk   
labeled Eudial.  
  
Eudial felt a shiver pass through her body, expecting one of the Witches 5   
to be here she looked up. She was therefore taken back a bit when she saw   
not one of the annoying new grad students, but a gentleman. However the   
look in his eyes and the mark on his head seemed to suggest that   
gentleman might not be the most appropriate term for him. He looks   
familiar, where have I seen him before? Ah, yes Mr. Black.   
  
"Mr. Black what can I do for you?"  
  
"I have the items that you needed for the experiments. My associates are a   
bit shall we say worried about making sure that these items make it into   
the professor's hands safely. So you must excuse my bold request to not   
give them to you, but to give them to him myself." Rubeus said humbly.  
  
"Of course, the professor's lab is in room B3-31. Just give me a moment   
to let you know that you are coming."  
  
After a quick call down to the lab, Rubeus left the room heading in the   
direction that Eudial had indicated would bring him to a staircase that   
would give him access to the third basement level.  
  
********  
The lab  
  
Professor Tomoe felt bad about it, especially considering the accident,   
however he did not have much choice. He needed to setup a few reactions   
to run before he left this afternoon, otherwise the past month's work   
would be lost, and he would have to start making the daimon eggs from   
scratch again. So once again Hotaru sat in his lab watching him work. He   
had promised her that he would take her to the park this afternoon, no   
matter what.  
  
He still did not know what he had done to deserve a wonderful child like   
her. He knew that she did not deserve him; she deserved better, a father   
who would be there for her. No, all he had done for his daughter was to   
cause her hardships; her illness was a result of that. But, he was making   
amends for that mistake. He had sold his soul in exchange for her life. He   
knew what he was doing was probably wrong, but any ability to judge   
morality on matters had vanished when that thing possessed him.  
  
To others he still was the same man, mostly. However, his actions were   
now just motions. The feelings that drove them gone, it was more as if his   
memories had been used to create a program that ran his body. The only   
thing that remained unchanged was his love for his daughter. When he   
was with her he was almost whole again. He only hoped that one day she   
would be able to forgive him for what he had done so that she could live.  
  
Coming over by his daughter he noticed that she was staring off absently   
into space. "What is the matter Hotaru?" he asked  
  
The girl turned to regard her papa, "It's ChibiUsa. I know she is okay, but   
feel so bad for what happened to her." She broke off not really knowing   
how to finish.  
  
"It is okay Hotaru, I know what you are feeling. Why don't we stop by her   
house while we are out? And you can pick her up a little get well present,   
ok?"  
  
"Hai papa, you're the best" she said while giving him a hug.   
  
As the two were breaking away from the embrace a knock came at the   
door. After Professor Tomoe gave his acknowledgement the door open to   
reveal a man dressed in a cloak with fire red hair and a dark crescent moon   
on his forehead. Tomoe began to open his mouth to great the newcomer,   
but then the daimon in his body took over, for it had noticed the strong   
magic emanating from this fellow. Beside Tomoe, Hotaru straightened as   
well letting out a hiss. However, hers was not a case of her daimon   
reacting, but her subconscious instinctively knowing that this man meant   
harm to ChibiUsa and her princess.  
  
Rubeus had been expecting Tomoe's reaction and moved quickly. With a   
flick of each wrist, a shard of the dark crystal appeared in each hand. A   
quick teleportation spell sent him behind his targets. Then with quick   
movements he jabbed a crystal into both Tomoe's and Hotaru's backs.   
Only after they fell to the ground and the crystal shard had fully entered   
each of their bodies did he let himself relax.  
  
Five minutes later Professor Tomoe awoke. Shaking his head he got to his   
knees, as he looked at Rubeus a black invented crescent moon was briefly   
visible on his forehead, indicating that the shard had neutralized the   
daimon. With unsure movements he hobbled over to where Hotaru lay.   
Picking up her body he felt for a pulse, finding one he let out a sigh. Then   
turning to Rubeus he addressed him. "What did you do to her?" he   
demanded, not worried about himself, but only his daughter.  
  
"Don't worry she will be fine. I apologize for the attack, but it was the   
only way to neutralize the demons that had taken up residence in each of   
your bodies."  
  
"You have destroyed my curse?" Tomoe asked hopefully.  
  
"Unfortunately they are still there and alive, just imprisoned in crystal   
shards. However, your life is now yours again."  
  
"How can I ever thank you?" asked a very grateful Tomoe  
  
"There is a way, and if we are successful then you will be freed of those   
demons forever. My name is Rubeus and as you probably have noticed I   
am a magic user. Recently something happened to time itself and as a   
result almost killed my master. He managed to escape the effect, but he   
needs your help to return back to reality. The machine that you are   
building with some slight modifications can allow him to return. Would   
you be willing to help him?"  
  
"Anything for the one who has saved my daughter from that demon, and   
especially since your master will be able to free her completely from my   
mistake."  
  
"I will be by tomorrow with the modifications that you need to make. Oh   
before I forget here are the items you requested." After putting down the   
containers Rubeus teleported out of the room.  
  
Shortly after Rubeus left, Hotaru opened her eyes. Hearing her groaning   
Tomoe immediately went to her side and cradled her body. "Don't worry   
Hotaru, you will be ok. Everything will be ok now" he spoke with joy   
flowing from his heart.  
  
I must have had another one of my fainting spells again. Hotaru thought   
sadly. Guess this means we won't be going to the park. However she   
was pleasantly surprised when her father told her to gather her stuff so that   
they could go to the park. Walking out into the sunshine with her father   
she took a deep breath, feeling reinvigorated.   
  
********  
The park  
  
"I guess we should start heading on home, I have homework to do." Stated   
Usagi to ChibiUsa. "Mamo-chan would you walk back with us, I am sure   
that my parents would love the opportunity to meet all of who you are."  
  
"I would love to" Mamoru replied. Giving Usagi a kiss the two of them   
stood up and each grabbing one of ChibiUsa's hands began to walk out of   
the park, with the three Senshi moving to follow them in the distance.  
  
"ChibiUsa-chan" came a high-pitched cry. Turning around the three saw   
Hotaru jogging over to where they were walking with ChibiUsa. A bit   
behind Hotaru, walking at a more sedate pace was her father.   
  
"Hotaru!" ChibiUsa cried back, and when her parents dropped their holds   
on her hands, she ran over to meet her best friend.  
  
With ChibiUsa having departed Mamoru moved next to Usagi and   
wrapped an arm around her frame. "Well I guess I could put off doing my   
homework a little longer." Stated Usagi not disappointed one bit.  
  
As the two girls began running around professor Tomoe came up next to   
Usagi and Mamoru. "You must be Usagi-san, I want to give my   
condolences for what happened yesterday to ChibiUsa. I am glad that she   
seems to be all right."  
  
"Thank you, Tomoe-san" replied Usagi. The three of them then sat down   
to watch the two children enjoy their time in the park. Though after a few   
minutes the girls came back and pulled the three parents off the bench to   
join in the fun. Professor Tomoe was thoroughly enjoying himself, glad   
that Hotaru was finally healthy again.  
  
********  
  
A thing best described as half machine-half man walked down the streets   
of Tokyo. Over the course of the past day it had killed a couple dozens   
bystanders to "protect." After each strike it vanished for a period of time,   
usually burning a hole into the sewers to escape. Though, it had nothing to   
worry about from the police, or even the military. The attacks were quick,   
sudden, and with minimal extraneous damage and so word about this   
killing machine was slow in spreading. But the time between each attack   
was decreasing till now it only numbered in minutes.   
  
Coming to the surface once again it scanned the area looking for the next   
target: the next set of individuals that did not match the descriptions of a   
pure member of its race. To the detriment of the alien civilization that   
created it those parameters were created by propagandists and not by   
scientists. Those parameters prevented any member of its race from being   
"pure" and after taking care of the invaders it and its brother units turned   
on their own people and exterminated them. Eventually its host body grew   
old and withered away, and the machine fell into disuse, till it was picked   
up and eventually brought here. Now with a new host body it could once   
again go about protecting the "pure" from all the "non-pure".  
  
Sensing high levels of energy it turned its attention to the park. In the park   
some place were two objects that its sensor equipment was currently   
classifying as level 7 threats. They posed the highest threat, and hence   
needed to be eliminated first. Entering the park its scanners detected   
additional energy sources corresponding to lower but still dangerous level   
4 threats. Surprisingly no one seemed to take notice of it as it walked   
through the park, and so soon it had the two level 7 threats in range. With   
both of them close together it smiled, raised its arm and began charging its   
weapon.  
  
"Supreme Thunder!"   
  
"Fire Soul!"  
  
"Shabon Spray!"  
  
Suddenly its vision was clouded by the appearance of a thick fog bank,   
and then it was blasted from one side by electricity and the other by fire.   
The Senshi chanting their spells alerted the targets to its presence and they   
immediately moved to escape under the cover of Mercury's spell. Getting   
behind a bush the two Usagis henshin into Sailor Moon and ChibiMoon,   
while Mamoru became Tuxedo-kamen. Professor Tomoe ran with Hotaru   
to escape in a different direction.  
  
Jumping back into the clearing Sailor Moon began her speech, "How dare   
you disturb the peace of this park. In the name of the moon I will punish   
you." However, immediately following her speech, she had to dive to the   
ground to avoid a blast of plasma that came her way.  
  
A rose came flying down striking the creature in its arm. Standing up on a   
tree limb Tuxedo-kamen began his speech "It is ill manners to go about   
cutting off." Tuxedo-kamen did not even get time to finish his speech   
before he was forced to throw out an array of roses to block an incoming   
ball of plasma. The intersection of the roses with the plasma caused a   
detonation, the blast unfortunately rammed into Tuxedo-kamen as he was   
jumping to the ground throwing him like a rag doll against a tree.   
  
"Tuxedo-kamen!" cried Sailor Moon as she saw her beloved thrown into   
the tree and ran towards him. The other Senshi, including Venus who had   
just arrived, attempted to contain the creature. Unfortunately each of their   
blasts seemed to have little effect, however the blast damage from the ones   
it was sending was banging up the Senshi pretty badly. The creature was   
now fully online, no longer requiring downtime between attacks, instead it   
could now engage in a head to head battle.  
  
Moving off to the sidelines Mercury pulled down her visor and began   
analyzing the creature. That's odd, it does not show any of the normal   
energy signatures of a demon. Hmm, that's interesting it appears to be a   
machine, but also living at the same time. Organic technology? But why   
won't our attacks work?  
  
Sailor Moon having assured itself that Tuxedo-kamen was okay for the   
moment stood up and faced the creature. "I don't know what you are, but   
you are going down!" Then pulling out her scepter she began her attack. A   
cry came from Mercury not to use that attack just as the energy began to   
leave the scepters tip. Racing the energy sped to strike the creature.  
  
The energy played out across its body and it let out a scream of pain. But,   
all too soon the scream died as its machinery began absorbing the energy.   
Then turning to face Sailor Moon it fired a ball of plasma three times the   
size of the last one. Sailor Moon remained rooted to the ground disbelief   
on her face. Realizing that she could not dodge it in time she instead threw   
herself over the downed body of Tuxedo-kamen.  
  
"No, Sailor Moon" cried Mars as she saw the ball of plasma race towards   
her best friend. Running over she tried to do something, but only   
succeeded in getting herself caught in the blast radius when the plasma   
ball detonated upon hitting Sailor Moon. Mars cried out in pain as she was   
flung through the air and into the street. Sailor Moon was only able to   
scream for a few moments before her body collapsed on top of her love.  
  
Mercury wiped a tear from her eye. She knew that for Sailor Moon to have   
a chance at survival they had to defeat this creature now. "Minna, don't   
attack it. Our attacks our only making it stronger." She called out.  
  
"Then what are we to do?" asked Venus  
  
"I don't know." Replied Mercury.  
  
"How about this" yelled Jupiter as she ran towards it and released a flying   
kick. The kick knocked it back a moment, but that was all it did. For after   
recovering its balance it just flung Jupiter across the field like an insect.   
Then it turned its attention back to scanning the region. It had detected two   
level 7 threats; while it had neutralized one of them for the moment it still   
had one more to take of before turning its attention to these level 4 threats.  
  
"Sir, 7th division infantry here to provide assistance" came a call from   
behind Mercury.   
  
Looking behind her Mercury saw a squad of infantry from the Japanese   
Defense force. Looking over them she noticed that they appeared to be   
armed with heavier weaponry than normal. Hmm, these might actually   
work. While it can absorb energy attacks, I wonder about concussion   
attacks. "Mind if I borrow one of your grenades, I have an idea."  
  
The squad leader gave his assent and handed the Sailor Senshi one of his   
grenades. Taking it she ran towards the creature and leaping into the air   
threw the weapon at her target. Keeping her vision on the creature the   
entire time she observed the effect of the blast on it. Yes it worked, not a   
heck of a lot of damage, but it did do some. Upon landing Mercury   
called forth her fog again for a moment to allow her to escape its return   
fire, however after the initial blast it did not pursue the matter.  
  
After deciding that it was no longer retaliating against her, Mercury   
moved back next to the infantry squad. "Our attacks have been near   
useless against this creature. But, it looks like your weaponry while less   
powerful will actually be able to damage it. Spread out, we will try to   
distract it by directing our attacks at the ground by its feet."  
  
"Hai." called the squad leader as he motioned his men to fan out and open   
fire.  
  
Explosion racked the ground around the creature and bullets and rocket-  
propelled explosives began to rain against its skin. It knew that soon it   
would have to deal with this new threat, however it could still look for that   
other class 7 threat for the moment. Jumping through a wall of bushes and   
moving quickly it soon came upon its target. There huddled on the ground   
was a man, but that did not concern it, what did was the young girl who   
was next to it. Her energy potential arced off the scale, but at the moment   
it appeared that there should be no trouble in eliminating the threat.   
Raising its arm it said, "Protect" and opened fire.  
  
Hotaru and her father looked up upon hearing the word "Protect" and saw   
the creature standing in front of them with its arm raised and pointed   
towards them. Frozen with fear they watched a blue ball of energy collect   
in the barrel and then come racing towards them.  
  
The plasma ball never reached them. When it was halfway a pink blur   
intercepted it crying "Hotaru."  
  
ChibiMoon had realized early on that there was nothing that she could do   
to help in the battle. Her attack was nothing more than a distraction really,   
and after seeing how little damage Mars and Jupiter did to the creature she   
had realized that all she would accomplish by attacking it would be to   
draw its fire to herself. Something she knew that would cause Usagi to   
ground her for a very long time. So she had instead told her mother that   
she would make sure that Hotaru and her father escaped safely.  
  
She had been tailing them up in the trees and was glad to see that they   
were heading out of the park. Unfortunately while Hotaru had been doing   
better with respect to her illness, she still was sickly and the running for   
her life in addition to all the running she had been doing with ChibiUsa   
earlier caused her to collapse out of breath. ChibiMoon stayed up in the   
tree watching, silently hoping that Sailor Moon would quickly moon dust   
the demon. Hence she saw the creature break into the clearing and take   
aim at her best friend. With the simple thought of protecting Hotaru she   
launched herself out of the tree and into the path of the blast.  
  
Thankfully the creature upon getting a good reading of Hotaru had   
decided to conserve energy for use against the other threats by using a less   
powerful blast than the power signature would normally call for, otherwise   
her continued survival would have been in question. As it was the pain   
arced through her body for all of about two seconds before she went into   
shock and passed out. Surprisingly she suffered very little damage as at   
the last minute her shadow crystal activated absorbing some of the energy   
and her link to Usagi allowed her mother absorb most of the energy that   
had impacted her body. Even still a badly bruised and burned unconscious   
body slammed into the ground.  
  
The pain of the impact traveled across the link to Usagi, awakening her.   
Standing up she felt the blast wash over her body as the Ginzuishou   
activated. Staggering she began walking towards where she knew   
ChibiUsa lay. As she walked her pose straightened, the pain from her own   
injuries vanishing under the shared pain of her daughter. Her eyes began   
to harden.  
  
Arriving at the scene a bizarre sight met her eyes. Removed in the distance   
were ChibiMoon, Hotaru, and her father. In the center of clearing stood   
the creature, which was being battered from all sides by weapons fire. The   
Sailor Senshi themselves would occasionally leap into the fray to engage it   
in hand to hand combat or fire an attack at its feet. The tactics seemed to   
be working, as it was noticeably weaker than before, however the Senshi   
were starting to tire. Once they tired too much so they were no longer   
distracting it, it would be able to take out the infantry.  
  
Rage still ran through Usagi's blood, over her daughter's pain that she was   
sharing. Pulling off her tiara she willed it into an energy disk. Then with a   
leap she was off, running into the battlefield. Approaching the creating,   
the weapons fire died off, to avoid hitting her, she however did not notice   
this so consumed she was by her desire to take down this monster.   
Where to attack? Its body armor has blocked all of our attacks so far.   
Then seeing the one unarmored spot she ran towards it, jumping into the   
air she kicked it across the side of the head. A roll in the air and she landed   
on the ground, with a quick spin she was ready for its expected move.   
  
The kick had only served to anger the creature, and it now had its weapon   
leveled at Sailor Moon. "Pro.. Ahhhhhh" Just as the monster began to   
open its mouth to utter the word "protect" with its attack, Sailor Moon   
jumped towards it and released her tiara. Her arc carried her over its head   
and upon landing she quickly leapt again to find shelter in a tree from any   
retaliatory attack.  
  
Sailor Mercury from where she stood with the 1st lieutenant in charge of   
this infantry force watched as Sailor Moon approached the creature. I   
hope she knows what she is doing, and is not letting her anger and concern   
get in the way. Sailor Moon's kick took her by surprise, as she expected   
Sailor Moon to throw the tiara first, but as Sailor Moon landed facing the   
creature she realized what the plan was. That might just work. Though I   
don't think that "You Bastard" bit was needed  
  
The creature stumbled back, having been badly injured by the attack.   
Knowing that it was in trouble it blindly lashed out with a series of plasma   
blasts. However, they did not help it to subdue its attackers, as the army   
men were low to the ground while all of its attacks flew widely up in the   
air. Instead it began to get hammered hard once again. The creature   
prepared to run, however, that effort quickly came to nil.  
  
An orange ball of energy rushed along the ground with a wall of earth   
pushed along in front of it. From the other side of the creature a blue ball   
of the sea flew at high speeds toward it as well. Only seconds after it   
registered the new attacks they slammed into it. With a choked cry it fell   
to the ground, most of its armor destroyed.   
  
Now for the first time the Sailor Senshi could see the man that it had once   
been. The creature attempted to get up, however, it no longer had the   
strength and instead collapsed back to the ground. "Now Sailor Moon"   
called Uranus.  
  
"Hai." She began to pull out her scepter again, but then noticed for herself   
that it was nothing more than a possessed man. I can't kill him; there   
must be some other way. Maybe the Crescent Moon Wand will work. But   
I don't think it will be strong enough. Perhaps. Having made up her   
mind she summoned the wand and then passing her hand past her locket   
retrieved the Ginzuishou and placed it in the wand. As the crystal   
activated she began to carve out the energy circle for the spell.   
  
The JDF upon seeing Sailor Moon approach the downed enemy creature   
had ceased their fire, knowing instinctively that she was about to end the   
battle. With awe they watched her carve out the circle of golden moon   
energy and then watched as that energy traveled from her to the creature.   
The armor began to dissolve before their eyes till all was left were the   
original organic technology components. And then those last remaining   
vestiges of the fierce fighting machine turned into moon dust, leaving   
behind a badly bruised and slightly brunt body.  
  
The man who had moments before been the machine struggled to keep his   
eyes open and not succumb to the darkness of unconsciousness that was   
pulling at him. Turning his head slightly he looked through his blurred   
vision at the one who had freed him of the curse. What he saw was a being   
of immense beauty and infinite pureness outlined in a glowing aura.   
"Kami-sama," he whispered out. A smile crossed his lips as he let himself   
be swallowed up by the darkness, now at peace with his soul and not   
afraid of the future.  
  
Having finished her task Sailor Moon turned to go take care of her   
daughter. Who as she approached was being held by the recently   
recovered Tuxedo-kamen. ChibiMoon stirred as Usagi approached and   
opened her eyes. "Sorry momma" she spoke silently, all that she was   
capable of saying at the moment. Usagi brushed back some of ChibiUsa's   
hair with her gloved hand before speaking, love in her eyes. "It is okay, I   
am very proud of what you did." And then placed a kiss on ChibiMoon's   
head before taking her daughter from Tuxedo-kamen so that they could   
leave.  
  
They had only taken a few steps when Uranus and Neptune appeared in   
front of them and bowed low to the ground. "Princess please forgive us for   
being so late. We tried to get here as fast as possible after we heard about   
the attack." Usagi could see the shame and guilt in their faces.  
  
"Don't worry, there is nothing to apologize about, you got here as fast as   
you could. Though what have I told you about kneeling. I will have to   
have Luna and Ami-chan see about getting you hooked into our   
communicator system." Reassured Usagi. "Now Uranus is your car   
nearby?"  
  
"Yes it is princess."  
  
"Could you then give us a lift to my house?"  
  
"Of course princess, come it is this way." The four with one more being   
carried began walking out of the park. After deciding they were far   
enough away from the action they returned to their civilian forms before   
finishing the walk to the car.  
  
********  
  
As Sailor Moon left to go check on her daughter, Mercury moved to check   
on what had been their toughest opponent. A scan revealed that the man   
was no longer "infected/possessed" by what ever had turned it into that   
killing machine. She also happily noted that he was still alive and would   
probably survive.  
  
"What is the verdict sir?" asked the lieutenant who had followed her into   
the battlefield.  
  
"He seems to be free of what ever had been controlling him. He will live,   
though you should get your medics over here, he is pretty badly beaten up   
as you can imagine. For his sake I hope that he has no memories of what   
happened while he was possessed. I think you and your men can handle   
the situation now." With that Mercury stood and singled to the others,   
after which they all left the park.  
  
The lieutenant signaled to his men and they advanced on the man. "That is   
what gave us so much trouble?" asked one of the men in disbelief.  
  
"Apparently so, though I imagine that what ever Sailor Moon did besides   
freeing him from what had been controlling him probably also destroyed   
all that advanced tech." Picking up some of the sand he continued "And I   
imagine this sand is what remains of that tech."  
  
********  
  
A car pulled up in front of the Tsukino household. "Thanks for the lift   
Haruka-san, why don't you two come on in for a moment, I am sure that   
my parents would love to meet you. Though you will have to excuse my   
bratty brother." A couple of coughs from Mamoru caused her to blush   
slightly over that last comment.  
  
Ikuko had noticed the yellow sports car pull up in front of the house, and   
had easily recognized Usagi in the car. She had begun wondering when   
Usagi was going to get home, as it was starting to approach seven. Those   
two must be the new Senshi that Usagi stayed with last night. She was   
slightly surprised to see Usagi carrying ChibiUsa up to the house and   
wondered if that meant something had happened.  
  
As Usagi came in the door she went and placed ChibiUsa down on the   
couch first. After making sure that the sleeping ChibiUsa looked   
comfortable she headed back to make the introductions. Kenji upon   
hearing the commotion and the door opening had come on down.  
  
"Mom, Dad this is Haruka-san, Sailor Uranus, and this here is Michiru-  
san, Sailor Neptune. Michiru-san, Haruka-san this is my dad and mom."  
  
"It is nice to meet the Tehran parents of our princess." replied Michiru   
while she and Haruka bowed low.  
  
"And likewise it is nice to meet two more of my daughters friends. I thank   
you two for looking after her last night." Kenji replied.  
  
"Honey, why don't you, your father and the guests go sit down while I go   
make some tea for every one?" suggested Ikuko.  
  
"Sure mom," then turning to the others "Minna go on in, I will be in a in a   
moment, I want to get some salve for ChibiUsa's wounds first."  
  
"Was she hurt?" her father asked, concern in his voice.  
  
"Yeah, but she seems okay now. I just want to put something on her   
injuries."  
  
Haruka and Michiru had not planned on staying for dinner, they were not   
yet fully comfortable around their princess and had actually only planned   
to drop her off at the house, not even come in. But there was one universal   
truth with Usagi, it was impossible to refuse her offers. Consequently they   
found themselves staying for dinner and then into the evening.  
  
As they had been finishing their tea, ChibiUsa stirred and awoke. She   
proceeded to crawl into Usagi's lap, still stiff and sore somewhat. The   
mood lightened substantially after dinner as the two newest Senshi were   
introduced to who ChibiUsa really was. Haruka was left speechless,   
providing great amusement to Michiru. And allowing Michiru to reproach   
her for leaving her mouth hanging open.  
  
But finally they managed to give their thanks and leave the Tsukino home.   
As the hour was getting late, Usagi and ChibiUsa headed up to bed. The   
two worked on homework for a bit before getting ready for bed. After   
laying ChibiUsa down in the bed and getting herself changed Usagi   
opened her window she called over to the neighbor's roof to invite Mars   
inside for the night.  
  
Luna had laid herself down on the bed and was curious as to why Usagi   
was by the window instead of turning off the lights so that she could sleep.   
But, her answer was not long in coming when Mars jumped in through the   
window and then reverted back to Rei. "Rei?" asked Luna.   
  
"Hai it's me," Rei replied.  
  
Usagi came back a moment later with some spare bedding and nightgown   
for Rei. "You do know Rei, I understand. You don't have to be so covert   
in your watching of me. Before I did not want to you all to follow me   
around, but now I know different. I won't stop you.  
  
"Thank you" replied a happy Rei as she embraced Usagi.  
  
********  
Zama Military Base  
  
Keffer settled himself down into his bed with the kitten curled up at the   
end of the bed. He had visited the various animal wardens and some of the   
shelters in the city today, but no one had reported a kitten matching this   
one's description as missing. Since he had grown found of the little one,   
he decided to take care of her himself until her owner came forward.  
  
Stretching Keffer had finally begun to fall asleep when alarms around the   
base began blasting. "What is going on?" He mumbled as he got back up   
from the bed. Quickly throwing on his flight suit and grapping his notepad   
he ran towards the briefing room, a curious and slightly afraid Diana   
watched him leave.  
  
Arriving in the briefing room her surveyed the room. Most of the other   
occupants were in a similar shape as he was. A low murmur filled the   
room as the pilots tried to figure out the cause of the alarm. On the way   
over he had caught site of the gunships being pulled out of their hangers   
and prepped for launch, giving him a sinking feeling as to why they had   
been awoken.  
  
With the arrival of the briefing officer a sudden hush came across the   
room. "Gentlemen I am sorry for having to awake you, but we have a   
situation. The enemy has changed its tactics and is currently conducting   
multiple attacks in the city. This tactic change may well be a prelude to an   
invasion of the home islands. We will be launching Cobra Gunships to   
engage each of the three targets. Troop transports will follow behind   
bringing in ground support. We don't have time for a more detailed   
briefing. You are dismissed. Good hunting."  
  
With their dismissal the room became noisy again, as the pilots talked to   
each other about the situation while making their way out. Clearing the   
bottleneck at the door to the room they each began jogging toward their   
copters. In the distance they could see ground troops heading towards the   
transports.   
  
At midnight the first of many waves of copters began lifting off from   
Zama. Similar actions were happening at other Japanese bases in the area,   
and this time ground attack fighters were also being launched. Under the   
glow of a full moon fighters and attack helicopters raced towards Tokyo.  
  
Back in the room Diana watched from the window as the copter began to   
lift off. The fear that had been present earlier in the day had returned in   
full force. Small lady, momma what is happening? I hope Keffer-san is   
going to be okay.  
  
-End Chapter 15  
  
Author's Notes:  
-Yep another long chapter did not quite realize how long this one   
would be when I started writing it. For those of you who were   
probably wondering when I was going to move past that formation   
of the Ginzuishou, don't worry the pace will begin picking up now.  
  
-I have to give thanks to Comet Moon for suggesting elements of   
the battle scene in this episode and making sure that I covered   
everything with bringing the full Sailor Team together (well minus   
Saturn).  
  
-For those curious about the items Rubeus delivered they are all   
used in nuclear weapons research. Tritium is an isotope of   
hydrogen with two neutrons and is radioactive. Heavy water is   
water that uses deuterium instead of standard hydrogen. Deuterium   
is the other isotope of hydrogen with one neutron, and unlike   
tritium is stable. Plutonium can be used to make atomic bombs,   
and is also a man made element (there is no naturally occurring   
plutonium, it is manufactured from uranium).  
  



	16. The Memory of War

The Fraglity of Time  
Chapter 16: "The Memory of War"  
Author: etj4Eagle  
Email: etj4Eagle@yahoo.com  
http://www.geocities.com/etj4eagle  
Lasted Edited: 10/23/00  
  
Revision Note: I have done a fair amount of text editing and revising since  
the last version. The substance remains the same, but I think it reads a lot better  
now. Was not happy with it when I first posted it. Seventeen should hopefully be  
out in a week or 2 and 18 is half down now.  
  
Disclaimer: A reminder I own none of the characters of this story,   
all rights are owned by others.   
If you distribute the story, do only   
so freely and inform me of where you post it.  
  
_______________________________________  
After being "mugged," Kunzite headed over to the mage tower to begin planning his   
next move. They still needed the Ginzuishou, which the Sailor Senshi currently held,   
to revive their leader. After the recent fiascos he had expected Beryl to be consumed   
by rage over the failures and that he would have joined his fellow generals in death.   
However, she had been surprising relaxed in her handling of the bad news. He   
postulated the cause to that new energy source she herself had acquired rather   
recently, the one that was now supporting his more energy intensive attacks.   
  
The source of this energy, he did not know. However, the magnitude and relative ease   
that Beryl came to be in possession of it, humored Kunzite. Those fools Jadeite and   
Nephrite died leading energy gathering missions, and now it turns out that their efforts   
were completely in vain. This energy source proved sufficient for all their needs, and   
furthermore it was larger than anything that either of those two buffoons would have   
been able to acquire on a dozen successful missions. Plus it was a persistent source.  
  
He chuckled at that thought. But it unfortunately brought up another not so pleasant   
one, the death of Zoisite. Endymion and Serenity were going to pay for depriving him   
of Zoisite. Endymion already had to die for turning traitor to his planet, but that would   
have just been a quick death. Now he would have his vengeance against Endymion   
first, before carrying out justice for the people of this planet.   
  
Moving to the observation deck of the tower he looked over the city and spoke to   
himself, "Soon the Dark Kingdom will rise again. And with it Queen Beryl and Queen   
Metalia will guide my fellow Tehrans to a glorious and free future. Some of us will   
unfortunately fall by the side in our revolution to free ourselves of our bondage to the   
Silver Millennium. But they will not die in vain and I pray for all their souls."  
  
Looking down from the top of the tower, he could make out the police tape that   
surrounded this location. The tower as expected was crawling with various "experts"   
trying to find an explanation for the transformation and what it meant. However, he   
did not worry about them finding him. This was a mage tower and it responded to the   
commands of its master, consequently today they would find no access to the   
observation level. Moving back into the tower, he knelt down in the center of the   
central room to meditate and contemplate.   
  
While he might have taunted Nephrite about his insistent need to seek guidance from   
the stars, as with any magic user he knew the benefit of occasional meditation. Only   
in meditation, could one become in tune with the flow of magic and gain to position   
for the next move. In the meditation trance time no longer had any meaning to him,   
and it was nearly twenty-four hours later when arose again, with the knowledge of   
what to do.  
  
From ripples in the sea of magic, he had learned of the death of that creature he had   
help to create, not that it surprised him. His combat with the Senshi told him that they   
would not be defeated easily, and that only Metalia would be able to kill them,   
particularly now that they had the Ginzuishou. Which of course made getting that   
crystal a problem, but he now had a solution. The last attempt was the right idea, just   
the wrong target. But the people of this city were the correct targets. Saying a prayer   
for the souls of those about to die in the next act of the revolution, he summoned three   
youma.   
  
********  
Tsukino household: A little after 10 pm  
  
Kenji headed towards the room shared by his daughter and granddaughter. The events   
since ChibiUsa's arrival still seemed at times to be nothing more than a dream. Since   
that time he had learned things about his daughter he would never have believed and   
saw her mature in front of his very own eyes. While it was hard to believe that his   
little fourteen-year-old daughter had a child of her own, he had to admit that   
motherhood suited her very well. Though he still was not sure how he felt about the   
other part of his daughter's life that came with that, her being a superhero.  
  
Opening the door and looking in, he saw the slumbering figure of his daughter with   
her own daughter curled up in her arms. Every night that he checked on her, she   
always was wrapped protectively around ChibiUsa. He did not doubt that she made a   
good mother, even though she herself was still only a child. He was about to close the   
door when another figure caught his attention, there sleeping contently on the floor   
was Hino Rei, the Senshi of Mars.  
  
Because of his work, he did not know his daughter's friends that well. But seeing Rei   
there somehow made him feel better about his daughter fighting as she did. He knew   
that she did not have any other visitors than Michiru and Haruka-san tonight.   
Therefore, this one must have come through the window. Somehow he knew that this   
sleeping girl was not there out of obligation, but because she truly wanted to be here   
beside her best friend.  
  
Closing the door softly, he began to make his way back to his own room. He now   
knew that whatever might happen, that his daughter had friends that were willing to   
do everything to protect her. For once, he could sleep easily tonight and not wonder if   
one day the Senshi would be brining back the lifeless broken body of their leader.   
With the worries gone pride, for his daughter began for the first time to really surge   
through his veins. Ikuko saw the changed expression on her husband as he came in the   
room. A smile crossed her face as well, as she knew this would help strengthen Usagi   
for the hardships that lay before her. As he joined her in the bed, she turned to him   
and gave him a kiss with all the love and tenderness in her heart. And, for once he   
new exactly what it was for.  
  
********  
Aino household a little after midnight  
  
Minako lay asleep is her bed with Artemis curled up next to her. Sleep was not a   
problem that night for her normally hyper self. Quite the opposite, she had trouble   
staying awake long enough not to worry her parents. Ami had told her to expect   
something like this, as their bodies were using lots of energy to heal their wounds   
from yesterday. And, then they had further stressed their bodies with today's battle.   
Thankfully, the stitches had mostly held. But Ami did need to redo a couple of them.   
She was just glad that she her further injuries from that battle only amounted to the   
standard bumps and bruises, as she had no idea how she would be able to hide that   
many injuries from her parents. They were already upset with her for not coming   
home last night. Thankfully, they had been partially pacified when she told them   
something happened to ChibiUsa and in being there for Usagi she had forgotten to   
give them a call.  
  
No matter how hard she was sleeping, the sound of multiple copters racing by barely   
above the roof of her building was enough to awake her. "Huh? What's that noise?   
Are we under attack?" she asked as the loud roaring noise continued to get louder.   
  
It even awoke the heavy sleeper, Artemis, who at least had the sense to move to the   
window to look for the source of the commotion. Looking up he saw the cause of the   
noise. "Now why are there dozens of attack copters racing above us?"  
  
"Did you say attack helicopters Artemis?" With his nod, Minako instantly knew what   
was up and pulled out her communicator. While she was waiting for the others to   
awake and pick up theirs, she heard noise from the hallway. "Uh oh, sounds like mom   
and dad are awake. Artemis I am going to go stall them. Ask Mercury to scan for a   
demon attack. Whatever scrambled those copters is probably Senshi business."  
  
Throwing her communicator to Artemis who disappeared into her closet with it, she   
opened her door and headed into the hall.  
  
Bleary-eyed images of the others appeared on the screen. "Ok what is so important   
that it can't wait till morning?" questioned a very irate Rei who had a still half asleep   
Usagi and ChibiUsa looking on over her shoulder.  
  
"Minna something may be up. A large number of heavily armed attack helicopters   
just passed by low over us. Ami can you do a scan for demon activity?" replied   
Artemis "And before you ask, Minako went to distract her parents so that they would   
not come on in here."  
  
"Hai" came Ami's reply as she pulled out her computer and began scanning. She   
frowned as she looked at the display and decided that she needed the enhanced   
display of her visor. A henshin later she had a model of Tokyo displayed on her visor   
with various military units super imposed. A couple of commands quickly added   
information gleaned from intercepted radio transmissions and other sensors. What she   
saw did not strike her as good at all.  
  
"Minna, Artemis is right. I am detecting at least three separate youma energy   
signatures. The military has dispatched units to each of these attacks. One unit has   
already engaged a youma, but does not appear to be making much headway."  
  
As Ami finished giving her report Minako came back into the room, having assured   
her parents that she was all right. Getting a quick lowdown of the situation from   
Artemis, the two quickly came up with a plan. "Michiru, Haruka you two take one of   
the youma. Rei, Ami, Usagi, and ChibiUsa will take another. Makoto and I will take   
the final one. Usagi you will need to move quick, as you will need to actually dust   
these things."  
  
As everyone agreed to the plan, Ami began assigning the youma to the groups based   
on everyone's starting location, and then they were on the move.   
  
Venus and Artemis ran along the roofs to the site they were assigned to. Artemis at   
first did not want to leave the room after Minako had placed the gear Ami had   
developed for him on. However, he was not given much choice as Venus grabbed him   
and threw him out the window. Once out he only grumbled a bit before following her.   
The cause of his distress was a kitty backpack and headset that was the result of   
Ami's first exploration with their Silver Millennium tech, one that Minako had also   
added some "kawaii improvements" to.  
  
The communication device that Artemis wore was born out of the need to be able to   
coordinate with any military units present. This device was actually a stopgap device   
till Ami could either create or modify their existing communicators. Ami had been   
able to previously communicate on the encrypted military channels, as she had routed   
her transmissions through her computer to carry out the encryption and decryption.   
She wanted to modify their communicators to this themselves, however she currently   
did not sufficiently understand the Silver Millennium tech to do this. However, with   
what she did know, she was able to modify their communicators to act as amps for an   
auxiliary communication device. Thereby allowing her to build a separate unit with   
the necessary encryption equipment.  
  
Artemis's military tactic training earned him the privilege of getting this device,   
which Ami had finished putting together only a few nights ago. The result was a   
lightweight backpack that housed the transmitter, receiving, data   
encryption/decryption systems, and power cells with a headset. Due to its need to be   
lightweight and not hinder Artemis's mobility it had an extremely limited range so,   
Ami had designed it to work of the Senshi communicators. Their communicators   
contained advanced receiving circuitry, which could easily receive and now with   
Ami's minor modifications amplify and retransmit the very weak signals that   
Artemis's communicator would emit.  
  
While all the equipment was good, he grumbled about Minako's styling efforts. As,   
she had painted it in a black camouflage. She also had placed some nice playful kitty   
stickers on with Crazy Glue. But most of all, did she have to write on the pack in large   
neon bold lettering "Kitty Commando?"  
  
********  
  
Sailor Moon's team was assigned to the youma, which was also being engaged by the   
initial group of gunships. Arriving at the scene, they quickly accessed the situation.   
The youma appeared to be a cross between a cheetah and the contents of an armory.   
Like the cheetah it semi-resembled, the youma heavily prized speed, allowing to   
easily dodge the barrage of attacks being unleashed by the gunships.  
  
While it could easily dodge the attacks, the near constant barrage of fire it was facing   
prevented it from retaliating. Consequently, except for the initial set of attacks it had   
been unable to hit any of the gunships. The pilot of the gunship the gunship that had   
been hit had thankfully been able to at least partially dodge the attack, thereby   
preventing the destruction of his craft. Though with the right side of the copter being   
ripped off, he was forced to bring it down in a semi controlled landing in the street,   
barely avoiding the buildings.  
  
"How dare you interrupt our sleep. I am Sailor Moon, I fight for love and Justice and   
in the name of the Moon I will punish you." Announced Sailor Moon as she arrived,   
flanked by Mercury and Mars with ChibiMoon by her side.   
  
Mars immediately launched a fireball at the creature, which it easily dodged. Mercury   
activated her visor I have not seen that scepter of Usagi's in action yet, but if it could   
knock down Kunzite then it might be strong enough to defeat this creature by itself,   
and I am not detecting a human basis to this demon. The key will be keeping it still   
long enough.   
  
"Minna we need to get that thing to stand still long enough so that Sailor Moon can   
use her scepter on it." announced Mercury. As the other three Senshi moved to engage   
the youma, Mercury realized that in this battle, she was even more useless than   
ChibiMoon; at least ChibiMoon had an attack that could distract the creature. Her   
only attack would cause trouble for their allies. Deciding her best option was to   
observe and coordinate, she jumped up into a tree and pulled out her computer and   
activated the alternate comm. link. "Mercury to allied forced, we need to pin down   
that demon so that Sailor Moon can destroy it."  
  
"Roger that, we will try to box it in." came a reply  
  
I hope the others are having better luck thought Mercury as she noticed the attacks   
of her companions continuously missing. The creature was just proving to be too fast   
for them.   
  
********  
  
Venus and Jupiter arrived at their target not long after Usagi and company arrived at   
theirs.  
  
"You think Kunzite has been watching a tad too many Godzilla movies?" asked   
Jupiter as they came upon their target. In front of them were two miniature twenty   
foot Godzilla like creatures, even breathing fire. The creatures very quickly spotted   
the Senshi and each of them greeted the Senshi with a plume of fire.  
  
Jumping out of the way, Venus replied "I was never a big fan for those movies. You   
take the one on the left, I will get the one on the right."  
  
"Hai" and then they were off running across what was left of a light industrial area.   
Laser beams and balls of lighting flew at their targets, and were responded to by large   
columns of fire. Jupiter rolling off to the side to avoid getting fried tried a new tactic.   
Running up she attempted to punch it; unfortunately, all she managed to do was to   
allow it to catch her in its hand.  
  
When the Senshi had arrived, the creatures were in a destructive mood, but now that   
they had playmates, they were in a playful mood, as Jupiter soon found out. Upon   
being caught, she expected herself to be painfully thrown to the ground, ripped in   
half, or munched on. Instead, she found herself being stuffed inside a clear plastic   
ball.  
  
Venus saw Jupiter try to engage the creature in hand-to-hand combat. Well if she   
survives this I will just have to kill her myself for being so stupid. She then smirked   
as she saw what the creatures were doing with Jupiter, having totally forgotten about   
her. The two "Godzillas" were now having a nice little game of catch. Which would   
have actually been a good temporary solution to the problem, if it was not for the fact   
that they were not careful where they were stepping and hence still causing a lot of   
damage.  
  
"Any ideas" came a voice.  
  
Pulling out her communicator Venus replied, "Not yet, though if we do get that   
Jupiter ball away from them, I should be able to set her free with my Crescent Beam."   
Hearing a noise, she looked up and noticed the first wave of military forces arriving.   
"Artemis see if you can coordinate an attack plan with our friends. I am going to see   
what I can do about getting one of them to drop a pass."  
  
However, Venus did not have to worry about that, as one of the creatures soon   
decided that the Jupiter ball would make a good anti-aircraft weapon. Maybe if it had   
some kind of aim and the gunships stayed put it might have hit one. Instead, it utterly   
missed and the Jupiter ball rammed into a water tower where it rested for a moment   
before the out flowing water pulled it along and it fell to the ground at the base. Venus   
jogged over to release her partner whose only desire for the moment was for the world   
to stop spinning.  
  
********  
  
Uranus and Neptune stood on the airport terminal watching a winged youma practice   
its landings on one of the runway, though it did occasionally mix in a strafing run.  
  
"Any ideas?" asked Neptune.  
  
"Not a clue, one thing is for certain we need to get that thing grounded." Replied   
Uranus  
  
"I think clipping its wings should work, we just need to get it on the ground for a   
moment." A voice added from behind.   
  
The two Senshi quickly turned to regard the voice's owner. What they found was a   
black shadowy figure that seemed to shift back and forth, never quite letting them get   
a good view. However, what was clear was the presence of a golden crescent moon   
glowing brightly on its forehead and a sudden adverse reaction they felt to it in spite   
of that mark of loyalty.  
  
"Who are you!" challenged Uranus.   
  
"Ah, the Soldiers of the Outer Planets, who stand guard, defending the Sol system   
from attacks from without, I am glad that your abilities have not been dulled by time.   
There is no need to worry, for I have sworn my allegiance to the princess. You can   
call me Urawa." As he stated his name, he shifted his form to that of a young lad.  
  
"Urawa? Hmm, now where have I heard that name before?" wondered Uranus as she   
looked over the boy in front of her. "Wait a moment you must be that Urawa-san that   
Mercury is dating." She declared remembering the morning's breakfast when the girls   
had decided to tease Ami a bit about her boyfriend.  
  
"Yes, Ami-chan is my girlfriend. Now if you don't mind, Neptune why don't you hit   
that thing with one of your attacks. The water should force it to remain on the ground   
long for me to clip its wings."  
  
"Hai" replied Neptune, who unconsciously shuddered as Urawa returned to his true   
form.  
  
The two Senshi blinked for a moment when Urawa suddenly vanished. But his   
clearing of his throat brought them back to the task. "Uranus, dear, I am going to need   
a little distraction." Neptune said while looking expectantly at Uranus, who after a   
little grumbling nodded and jumped down to the ground.  
  
Distract the creature now how am I supposed to do that? Looking up Uranus saw   
the creature do a slow flyby of the runway before preparing for another landing. "Hey   
ugly, bet you can't hit a moving target."  
  
Uranus's attempt to get the youma's attention succeeded and she soon found herself   
running while it fired various projectile like thingies at her. Well I hope this is what   
Neptune wanted. she thought while the goop it was now firing splashed all around   
her And can't it stay with one kind of attack. Yeesh  
  
From up on the roof Neptune watched the creature follow Uranus. As the two of them   
passed by the terminal that she was standing on, she released a Deep Submerge. The   
youma was taken off guard and collapsed to the ground under the weight of its wet   
feathers. As it struggled to get up, a figured phased into the visible in front of it.   
Moving quickly, it slashed at the closest wing before withdrawing.  
  
"Why you." Called the creature as it attempted to take to the air again. However, it   
quickly found that its left wing could no longer support weight and instead rolled to   
the left and crashed back into the ground.  
  
"My turn." Uranus announced with a large grin. Raising her hand into the air, she   
unleashed a World Shaking at the downed youma while Neptune unleashed another of   
her attacks. As the two attacks combined and struck the youma, it unleashed a howl of   
pain before turning into dust.  
  
********  
  
To the average person, Tokyo of today was no different than the one of only a month   
ago. However, the people of earth no longer had the ability to detect the flow of   
manna. While even during the Silver Millennium most humans were blind to this   
form of energy, at least some did have the ability. The few highly skilled mages were   
valuable commodities to the nations, earning them great respect and power. Following   
Beryl's rise to power, she had recruited every magic user, killing those who would not   
join. Unfortunately, that meant that when the dust settled from the war, the magic   
sensitive bloodlines had all but been removed from humanity.  
  
However, after a thousand years some magic sensitive bloodlines were once again   
entering the human gene pool. The mages of the Silver Millennium had never been   
able to figure out what gave a bloodline the ability to use magic, or the ability to   
predict when a new bloodline would be created. In the Silver Millennium, it was   
considered a moot point as all of its citizens were to some part sensitive to magic   
energies. But earth traditionally was a planet devoid of magic users.  
  
While there were now those in the Tokyo area who were sensitive to magic energies,   
none of them had sufficient training or sufficiently clear memories to understand what   
they were feeling. The Senshi and cats had on more than one occasion discovered a   
Dark Kingdom plot because of its associated build up of negative energy. They had   
learned to associate the feeling that negative energy caused with the Dark Kingdom,   
however they did not know what to make of the build up of its associated manna   
throughout Tokyo. Since the feeling was universal, they had all dismissed it as it just   
being their nerves with heightened problems they now faced with the disaster that   
brought ChibiUsa.  
  
One other individual felt the build up of negative energy. While she felt a general   
uneasiness like her sister warriors, she also felt something else. Negative energy is   
often associated with destruction and so gives rise to black manna as well. Still asleep,   
she could not yet garner energy from her planet, but she could absorb the now   
ambient black manna, giving her strength in both body and spirit.   
  
Magic users draw upon their manna reserves to cast spells. Normally by absorbing   
various manna from the environment, a mage recharges these reserves. However   
blood magic with its use of crystallized pure hearts and Sailor Crystals provide   
another route. Sailor Crystals continuously draw magic energy directly from their   
planet providing the Sailor Senshi with a constant stream of manna. But for the   
average mage who does not practice blood magic, recharging reserves requires   
finding manna pools, locations where manna is sufficiently concentrated that it can be   
absorbed. The blanket of negative energy that now covered Tokyo meant that Tokyo   
itself was a large manna pool for the various associated manna.  
  
Two of the techno-magical creatures known as droids had remained inactive in their   
crystals. A consequence of the creation of the manna pool was that both of these were   
now at full power, additionally by fighting in the area of the manna pool they would   
be constantly recharged during battle. For these two crystals, all they required was a   
command to activate, unlike the others they had not prematurely activated.  
  
The battle in the park about a month previous had only resulted in the destruction of   
the three Warrior Droids, with the Control Droid and its Collector Droids surviving.   
Feedback from the destruction of its Warrior Droids had damaged the Control Droid's   
ability to handle the energy flows. One result was the leakage of negative energy   
creating this manna pool. The other more serious effect for it was that it was unable to   
direct any of the energy its Collector gathered into its own reserves, preventing it   
from being able to repair itself and slowly running out of energy. Following the battle,   
it went into a passive mode collecting and analyzing data for when other Control   
Droids arrived. Once again, it now detected skirmishes, though this time it noticed   
that there were three concurrent skirmishes involving the Senshi. Its tactics circuitry   
decided that this would be the perfect time to attack with the enemy preoccupied and   
split.  
  
Using the last of its energy it sent out a universal attack request, in case there were   
hidden units that it did not know about. Now with its energy reserves drained, it   
collapsed to the ground as its self-detonation device activated, putting a nice sized   
hole in a parking lot. The two remaining inactive droids received the attack orders and   
activated.  
  
********  
  
Running, the cheetah-like youma turned slightly to its left to avoid attacks and headed   
towards the large open parking lot of the mall. Chasing behind it were Mars, Mercury,   
ChibiMoon, and Sailor Moon. Flying low above them were four attack copters, with   
two more slightly ahead and to each side to help herd the demon. As the creature   
reached the center of the top deck of the parking garage, reinforcing gunships from all   
sides rose above the deck of the garage, from where they had been hiding below.  
  
The youma came to a stop as it realized that it had been herded into a trap. Hoping to   
still escape it started to move forward, but was stopped by the impact of gattling guns   
against its chest. Starting with the gunships in front and moving around the circle, the   
Cobras opened fire, pinning the creature.  
  
Sailor Moon saw her chance and summoning her scepter released her attack. The   
scepter's energy very quickly blasted the youma apart into moon dust. With its death,   
the weapons' fire, no longer hitting a target, began to rain at the feet of the Senshi   
causing the Senshi to jump back. While the continued rain was the understandable   
result of the pilots not expecting the youma to be destroyed so quickly, it still caused   
Mars to complain about them being baka.  
  
Mercury chuckled for a moment before bringing everybody's attention back to   
matters. Looking down at her computer she noticed that Uranus and Neptune had   
taken care of their target. They seem to have stronger spells than us. she thought.   
"Minna we better go help Jupiter and Venus." As the others nodded their agreement,   
they began their trek over to the light industrial area, with a dozen gunships escorting   
them from above.  
  
As they ran across the rooftops, a black flash suddenly appeared and intercepted   
Sailor Moon, causing the others to stop. Looking at the black flash, they saw it to be   
Tuxedo-kamen now holding Sailor Moon, and then looking back at where she had   
been only moments before they noticed a gaping hole in the building's roof. Huh?   
thought Mars. However, she did not get much time to wonder what had happened as   
another blast quickly joined the first, forcing them to leap out of the way.  
  
Quickly dropped her visor, Mercury began to search for this new threat. Two   
buildings over she found it and frowned as her computer classified it as a droid.   
"Minna we have a droid over there."  
  
"What is this, destroy Tokyo week? Get 50% off your subsequent monster attacks?"   
Mars complained as she took up a position by Mercury in preparation to attack the   
creature.  
  
The gunships saw the two attacks impact the buildings and then based on the stance   
the Sailor Senshi took began to array their craft. Unleashing a series of small   
explosive projectiles, the youma made its position known to all. The gunships   
attempted to dodge out of the way, but unfortunately, a couple were hit and enveloped   
in a ball of fire.  
  
"No," screamed Mars. "You will pay for that. Fire Soul." Her fireball arced across the   
night and scored a direct hit on the demon, however it was not fazed.  
  
"We have a problem, the attack was not strong enough to hurt it." Explained Mercury   
as she interpreted her readouts "And we are going to have to weaken it before Sailor   
Moon can use her scepter."  
  
"Just great." complained an annoyed Sailor Mars.  
  
Sailor Moon tried her own tiara attack, but it as well did not have enough power to   
injure the creature. The rocket attacks by the gunships were slowly doing some   
damage, but unlike the previous creature, this one definitely had the upper hand.  
  
********  
  
"Ok who is filming a Godzilla movie?"  
  
"Foxbat-2 keep the chatter down. All units engage the lizard targets. Lets see if we   
can keep them distracted so that the Sailor Senshi can take them out."  
  
"Ten-Four" came the replies.  
  
Keffer released the weapon safeties and prepared to fire a missile salvo of his at the   
nearest thing. Jeesh and to think that I liked those Godzilla movies. "Hey what is   
that?" Jinking hard he pulled the 'copter out of the way as an object thrown by one of   
those creatures whizzed by.   
  
"Looked like it was a ball." Came the reply from his weapon's officer.  
  
"Well I guess it is a good thing if it is in a playful mood." Keffer replied sarcastically   
before firing his missiles for real this time.  
  
********  
  
Venus came up next to the clear sphere containing Jupiter. "Crescent Beam Smash"   
and the ball shattered, releasing its prisoner. Jupiter stood to walk over towards Venus   
but immediately swayed and collapsed back to the ground.  
  
"Ohhh, I don't feel too good" she complained.  
  
"I wonder why." replied Venus "Next time don't do something stupid like that."  
  
"Anything if it will make the world stop spinning." Replied Jupiter as she held her   
head in her hands.  
  
"Think you can walk?"   
  
"Just a moment." Jupiter gave her head a shake and then steeling herself stood up.   
"Come lets go take care of the Godzilla twins."  
  
"Hai." Replied Venus and the two Senshi returned to the battle.   
  
The scene that met the two Senshi was one that could have come from practically any   
Godzilla movie. In front of them two lizard creatures were being hounded by   
gunships, however the attacks were more of an annoyance than anything else. Though   
for some reason, probably good, they were not using their breath attacks. Instead, they   
retaliated by throwing objects at the 'copters: cars, street lamps, fences, trucks, and   
storage tanks. By far the storage tanks were the most deadly as they tended to give a   
nice little explosion upon landing. Not wasting any time the two Senshi dove back   
into the melee, hoping that the others were having more luck than they were.  
  
Not long after Jupiter and Venus rejoined the battle, two troop transport choppers   
arrived. Settling down a bit away, they unloaded their cargo before taking back off.   
Shouldering their guns the infantry began jogging towards the battle.  
  
********  
  
Diana paced Keffer's room, worry about Small Lady and the Sailor Senshi eating at   
her. She had seen the number of aircraft departing the base; it was a full mobilization,   
which meant that the others were facing something more than a simple demon attack.   
Additionally something just did not feel right, she wished that she had paid more   
attention to her mother's instructions so that she would have a clue as to why she felt   
so uneasy.  
  
The strain finally reached a breaking point and Diana decided that she had to leave;   
she only hoped that Pluto-sama would not be too mad at her. Concentrating Diana   
shifted into her human form. Moving to the door she paused, she did not want Keffer   
to worry about her when he returned. Reaching into her subspace pocket she removed   
the bell she wore in feline form and then removed one of the crescent moon earrings   
she wore, they had been a gift from Small Lady for her birthday last year. She placed   
the two down on Keffer's desk then opening the door left the room.  
  
Diana moved stealthy through the base. With the crises, the path from the barracks to   
the gate was nearly deserted. Though when Diana did come upon a soldier, she was   
not seen nor heard, an advantage of being a feline shape shifter. While it would have   
been easier to avoid detection in her feline form, there was the slight problem of not   
being able to open doors.  
  
Diana quickly arrived at the perimeter fence. The fence being tipped with razor wire   
would keep intruders out of the base and conversely occupants in the base. However,   
the fence was not designed to keep kittens in and out of the base. Looking along the   
base, Diana found what she needed, a small gap between fence and ground. A little   
digging with her hands quickly enlarged it sufficiently. Shifting back into her feline   
form she darted through, and was outside the base. Looking at the stars to get herself   
orientated she began her journey to Tokyo.  
  
********  
  
"It looks like they could use a little help." Uranus announced as explosions lit the sky   
in front of them. With a renewed vigor, the trio began running faster towards the light   
industrial area.  
  
Arriving at a nearby building roof, they surveyed the scene. "The Return of Godzilla:   
Godzilla verses the Sailor Senshi" was Uranus's take of the situation to which   
Neptune gave her a "we are not amused" look. "Ok, Ok, lets take them down."  
  
Uranus threw one of attacks between the two creatures to get their attention. "Herald   
by the new age I am Sailor Uranus appearing beautifully."   
  
"I too am here; Sailor Neptune appearing gracefully."  
  
They quickly followed with a World Shaking and Deep Submerge, one at each of the   
creatures. The creatures looked at the colorful balls of energy coming their way and   
only one thought crossed their small brains "catch." Giving what had to have been a   
little laughter, they each ran forward to catch one of the attacks. Unfortunately, the   
attacks were a tad bit too strong for them and as they each caught one of the energy   
balls the power blasted through their bodies turning them to dust.  
  
"That was interesting," stated Jupiter in response to the creatures essentially running   
to their doom.  
  
Artemis along with the three new arrivals jumped down to join Jupiter and Venus.   
"Mercury says that they have encountered a droid." he said once they were all   
together.  
  
"Nani-ka!" exclaimed the others.  
  
"We better go help them take care of that one. You know I would like to sleep at least   
a little bit tonight." continued Venus.  
  
"Hai," the others replied, but were stopped by Artemis.  
  
"Wait, I am getting a radio communiqu‚ from one of the gunships. They say another   
demon is approaching this position from the west."  
  
Sure enough just as he finished speaking a building exploded outward revealing a   
droid designed like a tank. "Well I guess meeting up with the princess is going to   
have to wait a bit." Neptune said with a slight sigh. Not wasting time with speeches   
the Senshi began unleashing their attacks at the demon. Unfortunately, it did not take   
long for it become quite clear that Jupiter and Venus were not doing much damage to   
it. Uranus and Neptune could do damage, but it deflected most of their attacks. But   
with respect to Jupiter and Venus, it just ignored them.  
  
Urawa stood off in the distance having discovered that at least for the moment he was   
of no use. The droid had a protective field around its body, which prevented him from   
closing in. Following his swearing of allegiance to Usagi, he no longer had any long-  
range attacks, only magic enhanced melee attacks. And that protective field prevented   
him from getting close enough to use them. And unlike most force fields he had come   
across in his long life, he could not phase through this one.  
  
********  
  
"Damn!" cursed Mars "What do we have to do to hurt this thing."  
  
The creature was easily taking anything they could throw at it, and also had reduced   
the number of gunships by half. Tuxedo-kamen had distracted it for a moment with   
roses, but it was not enough and he now lay injured a couple of buildings over.   
Mercury had refused to be sidelined again, even if she could not use her own magic   
and so was up here on the front line. At least ChibiMoon's attack could distract it for   
a moment, which was incidentally about all that Mars could do as well.  
  
Mercury stood slightly in front of her princess and noticed a beam of energy coming   
their way. Sailor Moon had not noticed it, and she herself would not be able get into   
its path in time. No! she mentally screamed. But then Mercury thought of   
something. Summoning her energy, she began creating her fog, but this time kept it   
limited to a very thin area. As she did, she visualized the individual water droplets   
that made it up freezing and connecting into a lattice. The energy crashed into the now   
formed ice shield before being harmlessly reflected and refracted everywhere.  
  
Hearing the sound of the impact, Sailor Moon looked over and saw the ice shield,   
which had protected her from the energy blast. Then looking to her right, she saw its   
caster, Sailor Mercury. Exhausted from developing the new mental pathways for the   
new spell Sailor Mercury collapsed to the ground.   
  
The droid stood dumbfounded as its attack was deflected. This opportunity was not   
wasted, as the ground attack fighters had finally arrived. Racing in overhead they each   
unleashed their supply of armor piercing anti-tank rockets. The attacks knocked the   
creature to down. When it attempted to get back up it was met with a fireball and   
Sailor Moon's tiara.  
  
Not wanting to wait longer, Sailor Moon pulled out her scepter and unleashed an   
attack. The energy blasted into the creature, knocking it off the roof and into the   
street. However, it was insufficient to kill it. Sailor Moon slumped to her knees as she   
saw that the droid was still alive.   
  
Mars came up beside her leader and put an arm around her. "You did your best, rest   
and when you have your energy levels back up again you will be able to dust it."  
  
Usagi looked up at Mars face and saw the warmth there, giving her renewed strength.   
"Hai," she said while standing back up. Mercury partially recovered from the   
aftermath of that new spell sat up once again activating her visor.  
  
A large series of explosions shook the building they were standing. A loud cry of   
"Yessss!" from Mercury followed those explosions, and two confused Senshi looked   
over at their normally sedate friend. With her face turning red, Mercury answered   
their questioning stares "Sailor Moon, while you were unable to kill it, you did   
severely injure it and the gunships just finished it off."  
  
As if to emphasize that point the gunships began coming back up above roof level.   
Moving to the side Mars and Sailor Moon looked down and saw a pile of dust in the   
cratered street. "Finally." Was all Mars was able to say as she slumped to the ground   
exhausted.  
  
Mercury still sitting activated her comm. link with the gunships to thank them for   
their help and also to ask them if they knew anything about how the other battle was   
going. From them she learned that the other two targets had been neutralized,   
however, another demon had shown up at the light industrial area, but had just know   
been defeated. An exhausted Mercury then relayed the news to the others, including   
the now awake Tuxedo-kamen.  
  
"Well we can still get about three hours of sleep before school." announced Mercury.   
Knowing the need for sleep the others all began heading back to their beds.  
  
********  
A little earlier  
  
The droid that the other Senshi faced, while being a heavily armored tank-like   
creature, was beginning to find itself in trouble. The attacks of Venus and Jupiter did   
not worry it, but those of the quick moving Soldiers of the Outer Solar System did.   
For the moment, its shield held, allowing it to retaliate. While it may have had a slow   
to aim weapon, the damage that weapon did when fired usually made that a moot   
point. The Senshi kept dodging out of the way of the blast, but the debris that it   
knocked up were beginning to take their toll.  
  
The JDF forces unfortunately, were also having similar luck with this creature. The   
gunships had been forced to withdraw after the creature's surprise display of anti-air   
power. It had detonated a couple of energy balls in the air, knocking some of the   
'copters down and causing the others to pull back. So far, it had ignored the infantry   
units, which had used the time to find cover from which to launch their own attacks.   
Unfortunately with its shield active, even their mortars did not faze it.  
  
"Any ideas Lieutenant on how to make headway with this thing?" asked a soldier   
sporting a large backpack with an antenna.  
  
"Unfortunately no, about the only thing I can think we can do now is to call in an air   
strike. It is going to cause even more damage, but there is not much that we can do   
now is there?"  
  
"Understood." Replied the enlisted soldier as got ready to radio in the air strike   
request. "Sir I am receiving a transmission from someone named Artemis, says he is   
with the Sailor Senshi." He reported as a transmission began coming in. "He suggests   
that we try to blind that creature."  
  
"Tell him that we copy and that he might want to advise his forces to shield their   
eyes." Replied the lieutenant. Then moving back to where the mortars were setup, he   
gave their crews new instructions. Shortly afterward, Star shells began raining down   
against the creature. While these do minimal damage themselves, their phosphorous   
fires are extremely bright. Normally they are set to explode high in the air providing   
light for the battlefield. By being set to explode at point blank range of the demon,   
their bright flare blinded it, and unfortunately anything else watching as well.  
  
Thankfully with the warning, Uranus and Neptune had adverted their eyes. Their eyes   
quickly adjusted to the heightened light level. While they could not make out the   
target in the glare, they were no longer in danger of being blinded by the continued   
raining of star shells, a benefit of their enhanced Sailor abilities. Aiming for the white   
blob, Uranus and Neptune unleashed their attacks. The two attacks merged into one   
and crashed into the shield, which was also finding itself being overloaded with the   
intense radiation. The strain proved too much and it collapsed. Urawa saw his chance   
and moved onto the battlefield towards the creature. Uranus and Neptune stood off on   
a building waiting while their Sailor Crystals recharged their manna reserves   
sufficiently for another attack.  
  
A large rumbling of the ground and an additional bright flash from the target caused   
all to stop what they were doing and look. As the phosphorous fires died out, all that   
could be seen initially was a large hole in the ground. Then as their eyes adjusted to   
the lower light level they were able to make out various pieces of armor plating that   
were slowly turning to dust. And in the center of it all, where the creature had once   
been, was a spider-like creature with a golden crescent moon shining brightly on its   
forehead. With what passed as a smile among its race, it spoke "I don't think this one   
will be bothering us anymore. In the end it was a rather pathetic creature." Then it   
vanished as it moved to return to its home.  
  
"I have no idea what that thing was, but it gives me the shivers. I am just glad that it   
appears to be on our side" stated the lieutenant. His statement was met with an   
acknowledging nod from the other soldier, as they and the others began to move to the   
LZ.  
  
********  
  
"WAAAAAAHHHHHHH, I'M SOOOOOOOO LATE." a female voiced screamed.   
Rushing to get ready, barely avoiding panicking the girl thinks to herself, Oh god I   
didn't do my homework Haruna-sensei is going to kill me. Running down the stairs   
the girl kisses her mom, grabs her lunch, and stuffs a piece of toast in her mouth   
before vanishing out the door.  
  
Racing down the sidewalk, barely avoiding a collision with various objects in her   
path, a blondish-pink blur suddenly passes her. The blur comes to a screeching halt   
barely avoiding falling on her face. Turning she stares at the other girl and states.   
"Ami-chan you're late too?"  
  
Panicking the blue haired girl replies, "There's no time. Oh god there goes my perfect   
record."   
  
Suddenly Makoto approaches them, also at a dead run. Yelling to Usagi to grab Ami's   
other hand, the two begin dragging Ami off at what she thought had to be supersonic   
speed. Ami gave a series of blood-curdling screams as death passed by in front of her   
eyes. Usagi tries to calm her by telling her that she just needs experience with arriving   
late. Then Ami catches sound a "wee" coming from Usagi. Confused she looks over   
and notices ChibiUsa riding piggyback on her mother's back and having the time of   
her life. Ami just turns back forward, closes her eyes and attempts to keep running   
fast enough.  
  
Her eyes still closed Ami hears Usagi say. "I think we can make it Makoto." Against   
her better judgment, Ami opens her eyes and sees that they are a block away from a   
busy intersection whose light was turning yellow. In horror, she realizes that they   
were picking up speed. Her always-logical mind began to calculate speed, weight of   
the group, wind resistance; they were going AGAINST the wind, and distance.   
Coming up with the only possible conclusion to the equation, she voices the only   
possible logical thought: "AHHHHH, WERE GOING TO DIEEEEEEEE!" Ami   
screamed at the top of her lungs.  
  
Exhausted and white as a sheet, Ami arrived with a slightly heavily breathing Makoto   
and a perfectly fine Usagi at the school. As they walk towards the classroom Usagi   
tried to calm Ami's nerves, "Calm down Ami we had plenty of room with that semi, a   
good five centimeters I think." Walking into the classroom only ten minutes late,   
Haruna points to the clock and says detention. Mumbling a "Hai" the four take their   
seats, ChibiUsa's seat from the other day still being set up.  
  
"Class now that we are all here, please pass up your homework." Haruna announced.  
  
Sighing, Ami drops her head slightly, not only is she late today, but she did not have   
time to finish her homework last night. She had been working on her homework when   
the call came across. Normally she would have started her work earlier, but she had   
wanted to finish a couple of communication and data display programs for her   
computer, which turned out to have been useful for the battle. With all her studying,   
she often did not head off to sleep to around midnight, so last night would have only   
been a slightly late night with her not starting her homework till around 11. But the   
youma attack changed all that, and prevented her from finishing her homework.  
  
Pulling out her partially completed homework assignment, she handed it forward.   
Looking to her left she saw that Usagi had her homework fully finished and just let   
her head fall against the desk table. This is going to be a long day.  
  
********  
  
Finally, the bell marked the end of class. Ami sighed again, knowing that she had   
another two hours of detention. As the last student filed out of the classroom Haruna   
got up and closed the door, then returning to where the three students and one child   
sat, she pulled out one of the chairs and sat down.  
  
"I am not planning on keeping you for long. Just long enough for Ami-chan to finish   
her homework from last night." Haruna said while looking over at Ami, causing the   
blue haired girl to blush. "I know that you have a good excuse for being late this   
morning."  
  
"Huh?" responded the three girls.  
  
Haruna continued as if she had not heard them. "Usagi it is a great pleasure to have   
your daughter joining us for class. Feel free to bring her whenever you like. If you   
would like to talk to another adult beside your parents about raising a child, feel free   
to come to me."  
  
The three girls just sat there wide-eyed in shock over having Haruna somehow   
discover the truth about Usagi. ChibiUsa not quite in as much shock as the others   
replied "Agrito Haruna-sensei.  
  
"I heard of the attack last night, I am glad to see that you three are okay. Now, Ami   
why don't you finish your homework. Usagi can I speak with you privately for a   
moment?"  
  
Usagi gave a nod and got up to leave the room with her teacher, while Ami took the   
paper Haruna had placed down on her desk and pulled out her books to finish it.   
Makoto leaned back in her chair while thinking that Luna was probably going to kill   
them at the meeting that afternoon. Looking towards ChibiUsa, Makoto noticed that   
the child was looking a bit ancy with her mom now out of the room. She was about to   
get up and try to calm her down when a smile crossed ChibiUsa's face. Following   
ChibiUsa's gaze she saw that Usagi was now visible through the window in the door.  
  
********  
  
Out in the hall Haruna began to talk to Usagi. "I don't know if I really want to know   
how you have managed to pull off having a daughter, but I take it that she is the   
reason for how you have changed over the past few months."  
  
"Yes, she is my daughter. She is from the future, but even still, I feel a strong   
connection to her. I would do anything to protect her. I am sorry for bringing her here   
to class; I know that it must be a disruption. But, our enemy tried to kill her the other   
day. He was holding her by the neck and strangling her before my eyes trying to break   
my spirit." Usagi broke down with the last bit, for the first time revisiting those   
painful memories.  
  
Haruna could see the anguish on the Usagi's face and motioned the girl to come over   
so that she could cry against her shoulder. "Don't worry Usagi, I have faith that you   
and your friends will be able to defeat those monsters. I feel safe knowing that you are   
protecting us from them."  
  
After a few minutes, Usagi's tears dried up and were replaced by just sniffles. "You   
know?" she asked  
  
"Yes, I know that you are Sailor Moon. If I had known before, I would not have been   
so hard on you those days when your Senshi business got in the way of school. I still   
have to keep the appearance of not favoring you, but if it is Senshi business, I will be   
lenient, like today.  
  
"Agrito" replied Usagi.  
  
"And Usagi, don't worry about brining your daughter here. As I said before she is a   
pleasure to have in class. Also, I have seen what motherhood has done for you. To be   
frank I did not think highly of your potential, but that has all changed in the past   
months. I can tell that the mother-daughter bond that you share with her is getting   
stronger and stronger. Why don't you tell me a bit about you daughter?"  
  
********  
  
"Where is she?!" complained Rei  
  
"Rei, don't worry they will be here. Usagi, Ami and Makoto all got detention for   
being late this morning." Announced Naru as she walked in the room.  
  
Rei was still fuming, but without anything to complain about she plopped herself   
down in the corner. Minako had been spending the past half hour to try to get that girl   
to calm down and was consequently very happy that Naru had been able to do so.   
Though of course her presence was still a mystery, but not one Minako was worrying   
about at the moment. Instead, something else that Naru said held her attention.  
  
"Ami got detention?" asked an incredulous Minako.  
  
"Yep, you should have seen the expressions on the rest of the class when she came in   
late with the others. I guess those incidents being reported on the radio this morning   
prevented you from getting much sleep last night, huh?"  
  
"Ahhh." started Minako, who was now thrown for a loop with Naru's statement.  
  
"Minako, Naru apparently knows quite a bit about us. Though Usagi has not said   
how." Luna started, then noticing the expression on Naru's face she continued with   
"Oh sorry about that Naru, yes both me and Artemis can talk."  
  
"Guess that explains how your presence often served as reminders for Usagi."  
  
Beside Naru, Minako, Rei and the two cats Michiru, Haruka, and Setsuna were also at   
the shrine. However, the latter three were currently getting a tour from Rei's   
grandfather who had immediately offered it upon their arrival. Minako wondered how   
Setsuna was handling her punishment for bending the rules. She had looked a tad bit   
depressed when she arrived; Minako hoped that the tour would help divert Setsuna's   
attention.  
  
About ten minutes later, they heard the sounds of footsteps running up the stairs.   
Looking up, those in the room saw Usagi and company burst into the room, with   
Usagi and ChibiUsa immediately making a beeline towards the food.  
  
"I though Haruna-sensei gave you a two hour detention?" asked Naru.  
  
"She did, but then she said we only had to stay till Ami finished the homework she   
had not done for class this morning. She somehow found out about us." Usagi replied   
while stuffing her mouth. A guilty expression crossed Naru's face, but went unnoticed   
as the others were busy teasing Ami for being a "delinquent" student and Usagi and   
ChibiUsa were busy with the food. A few moments later Usagi swung her head   
around to regard the one who had been asked her about detention. "Naru! What are   
you doing her?"  
  
"To get answers, Usagi." She replied.  
  
"Well considering that the others are still out with grandfather, I guess we have time   
for that." said Rei, who with Usagi's arrival had become much less grumpy.  
  
The girls seated themselves on the floor with Usagi sitting down across from Naru.   
Usagi began to speak, but found in talking to her best friend that the words did not   
come as freely as was explaining things to her parents. ". Ah so what do you want to   
know?" she asked while scratching the back of her head.  
  
Naru decided to help her friend out a bit, for the moment. "Well I already know that   
you are Sailor Moon, and ChibiUsa-chan over there is your daughter. Though, I still   
have not figured that one out yet. Additionally Ami is Sailor Mercury and Rei is   
Sailor Mars. Makoto would be Sailor Jupiter, which leaves Minako as Sailor Venus.   
However there are things I am missing, and I want to know HOW YOU CAN HAVE   
A DAUGHTER AND WHO HER FATHER IS?"  
  
"You have figured out a lot haven't you?" Usagi noticed sadness in Naru's eyes,   
which represented an unspoken question. Getting up she walked over to Naru to   
embrace the other girl, as she did so her form shifted to reveal her true form. "Naru-  
chan, I wanted to tell you everything from day one. But, what I saw that first time I   
fought told me that I could not risk putting you in the kind of danger I faced. I saw   
that creature try to kill you and knew that I had to do all that I could to protect you;   
even it meant that it would eventually destroy our friendship, you mean that much to   
me." Naru saw the true concern and love in the eyes of the girl who now embraced   
her. She could tell that not being able to tell her the truth had caused Usagi great   
sadness.   
  
ChibiUsa watched on with a tear in her eye. It was times like this when Usagi acted   
just like her future-self and made ChibiUsa feel a bit homesick, especially now that   
Usagi was in her Serenity form. But, at the same time, Usagi at these times made her   
so much more content to be here as well. ChibiUsa wanted to run up and have Usagi   
wrap her up in a hug, but knew that Naru needed it more.  
  
Serenity sat herself back down, but now knee to knee in front of Naru and began her   
tale. "My real name is not Tsukino Usagi, but Serenity, crown princess of the Moon   
Kingdom and heir to the empire of the Silver Millennium. The others here are my   
guardians representing each of the member planets of the Silver Millennium.   
ChibiUsa is from the future. To explain anything I have to start at the beginning with   
the destruction of Silver Millennium and with how I fell in love with an Earth   
prince."  
  
********  
A little while later  
  
"Thanks for the tour Hino-san" Setsuna said while giving the old man a nice low bow.   
"But I think it is time for us to rejoin your daughter and the others."  
  
Opening the door, the three ladies entered into the room. "Michiru-san here is the   
princess of Neptune, Haruka-san the princess of Uranus and Setsuna the princess of   
Pluto, she also is the guardian of time and space, the reason why ChibiUsa is able to   
be back here in the past." Said Usagi as the three older women entered. She had   
reverted back to her Usagi form shortly after beginning the tale, as paradoxically   
holding the Serenity form took lots of energy."  
  
Haruka and Michiru stood a bit shocked just inside the room at the introduction they   
had gotten. Setsuna stood smirking at the two of them; while she was surprised, it was   
not an entirely unexpected surprise. She knew who Naru was and the strength of the   
time-flow associated with this girl with respect to her future queen. While she did not   
know how this would affect the future, she figured that it would probably be   
beneficial.  
  
"Well now that we are all here we can begin." Luna began Then addressing the three   
new arrivals, in particular the two doing nice imitations of fish she added "This is   
Naru, she is Usagi's best friend and had already on her own figured out a lot about us,   
Usagi just finished explaining the rest to her." Taking a breath, she prepared to start   
into the meeting.  
  
However, before Luna could continue Rei started into a tirade of her own "We were   
useless last night. None of us four could help Usagi at all. With the youmas, all we   
need to do is just hold them still long enough for Usagi to dust them. And then with   
the droids, our attacks don't hurt them at all."  
  
As Rei finished her complaint, she collapsed to the ground with a look of utter defeat   
on her face. Usagi quickly moved across the room to embrace Rei. Pulling her in and   
rubbing the other girl's back who was now sobbing, "Rei you are not useless."  
  
"I am afraid that we are," replied Ami "Our attacks are not of sufficient power to   
handle those droids. We have been lucky that Rubeus has of yet not made any overt   
moves, but I have a feeling that when he does we are going to be in even bigger   
trouble than we are now. Plus we still have to face Kunzite and then Beryl. Beside   
you, only Uranus and Neptune are able to fight these droids. I'm sorry princess, but   
that is the truth."  
  
Usagi looked around the room and saw the sad dejected looks on everyone's face as   
they nodded their agreement. She herself looked down at the floor of the room   
without any answers.  
  
"But we will still be there for you Usagi, we just wished that we could do more   
damage to those demons." Minako added, which was met with many vigorous nods.  
  
"I stopped by Central Control today." began Artemis.  
  
"But I thought ChibiUsa said that Artemis was Central Control?" asked a confused   
Usagi. During which Luna glared at Artemis, who at least had the grace to cower   
down to the ground.  
  
"He was only the voice of command, Central Control does exist. It is a collection of   
powerful computers, which Queen Serenity had managed to send forward in time with   
the rest of you. They are interfaced with various global networks and so act as a   
massive intelligence system, plus they have a fair amount of data banks." Explained   
Setsuna  
  
"Setsuna's right. Unfortunately the system only appears to be setup to take my   
command input and I am only granted access to very limited facilities." added   
Artemis.  
  
"Well then I will just have to do some royal reprogramming," announced Usagi.   
"With all the excitement I forgot to mention that some of my memories have been   
returning. Mainly they are ones dealing with Endymion and my life on the moon, and   
also mother. But I have also begun to remember some of mother's instruction on   
using the main computer. I almost remember my access codes, its like they are just   
beyond where I can reach."  
  
While Usagi had been giving her speech, Ami had been leaning forward in   
anticipation, licking her lips just waiting to get her hands on that computer. With   
Usagi finally saying that they couldn't get access to it yet, she fell forward onto the   
ground. The others tried to restrain their chuckles as a very embarrassed Ami picked   
herself backup and sat down.   
  
"I need to go do some thinking about my memories. I have many half memories   
floating around that may help us, but I haven't had time yet to really examined them."   
Announced Usagi as she began to get up. ChibiUsa immediately moved to her side   
and took one of Usagi's hands. Rei and the others began to get up as well to which   
Usagi said "I need to be alone for this, so no following me this time. Oh, Michiru-san   
Haruka-san STOP calling me princess all the time. It is just Usagi-chan."  
  
"Yes prin. err. Usagi-chan" the two replied  
  
With that, mother and daughter left the shrine.   
  
********  
  
Father Morgan took a broom and began sweeping the front steps of his little chapel.   
Since returning from his trip, he had felt energized and confident that he was   
following the right path. The others had sent him some more information, but for the   
moment, things were quiet. This information included periodic updates of the   
discussions amongst the world's religious leaders on how best to proceed with   
guiding their flocks into the new age.  
  
Feeling a familiar energy, he looked up and saw the Messiah walking down the street   
with a child alongside her. A few minutes later, the two turned into the shrine, when   
Usagi saw him, a large smile crossed her face. "How are you doing Morgan-san?" she   
asked  
  
"It is good to see you again Usagi-sama. Please come in, I am doing very well. Who is   
this we have here?" he asked indicating the child as he bent down to greet her.  
  
"Morgan-san this is my daughter, Tsukino Usagi, but you can call her ChibiUsa-  
chan." ChibiUsa looked up at her mother when she made that statement, but saw the   
trust that shone in her mother's eyes.  
  
"Konichiwa, ChibiUsa-chan" looking at Usagi he continued "She looks a lot like   
you." For Father Morgan after accepting that Usagi was the Messiah, anything else   
was no trouble at all to accept. There was no reason why the Messiah could not have a   
child that was over half her age.  
  
As they entered the building Morgan spoke, "Usagi-sama you look as if something is   
troubling you."  
  
"My guardians, they are feeling useless with their powers. Last night, they were   
overwhelmed and against a couple of the demons nearly useless. Their spirit is   
shattered and I need to find a way to strengthen and relieve them of the guilt they   
feel."  
  
"I believe in you Usagi-sama. I have known from that day that you healed me that you   
are the Messiah. I could easily see it in that brief glimpse of your true aura during   
your henshin. In the intervening time, I have done something bold. After you left, I   
was left with questions on the path to take. So, I traveled to the holy land to seek   
answers. I prayed and meditated in a field near Nazareth till late at night, but did not   
find my answers. However, under the light of the full moon I suddenly felt reassured   
and the need to go to Rome."  
  
"Mother," whispered Usagi as she realized the source of that assurance and need.  
  
"There I met with the Vatican. I must apologize for breaking my word to you as I told   
them some about you. From them I learned that you and your soldiers are the reborn   
warriors of the fallen Silver Millennium and that your real name is Princess Serenity   
of the Moon Kingdom. Also apparently my Lord gave a prophecy to Sailor Venus and   
Saturn telling of your rise as the Messiah and Senshi of the Moon."  
  
Usagi was lost, as she did not know how to respond to the information that he had just   
given her. She knew that her mother was directing his path to help her. This stuff   
about being the Messiah confused her, but the current battles were a more pressing   
issue.  
  
"Usagi you have the power in yourself to help the Senshi. Your power has only   
partially awaken, inside you sleeps a strong warrior. If you search your soul you will   
be able to tap that strength and use it to help your soldiers." Then turning to ChibiUsa   
he said "ChibiUsa-chan why don't we leave your mother be for a while, I think she   
would like to pray at the alter for a bit."  
  
ChibiUsa looked at her mother unsure of whether to accept the offer. "Thanks   
Morgan-san," Usagi said and then pulling out of her pocket she handed him some   
money, "Here take this and why don't you two go get some ice-cream, I may be a   
bit." Morgan attempted to refuse the money but finally gave up in defeat under the   
glare of Usagi.  
  
As the two left the house of worship, Usagi moved to the front. Kneeling down she   
first said a prayer to those who had perished last night in fighting the Dark Kingdom.   
Then concentrating as Rei had once showed her, she began to focus her energy on   
both the crystal and the moon. As she concentrated her aura lit up, silver energy   
flowing across her body. Then as she opened her eyes, the golden crescent moon   
flared brightly on forehead before reducing to a gentle glow on her forehead.  
  
Quickly she fell into a trance, utterly in harmony with her aura. In the trance she could   
see the block hiding her memories and then with a mere thought it was gone could   
move through her memories of the Silver Millennium with ease. However, the   
answers she sought did not reside there, instead she her thoughts moved towards the   
crystal and she began to probe its energy, seeing it for what it truly was. She saw its   
linkage to her and the moon and its linkage through time to her daughter. Following   
the linkage to the moon, she felt its power and pull. As the power of the moon pulsed,   
she gave into its pull and found herself standing on the surface of the moon.  
  
Walking forward on the cratered surface her school uniform shifted to that of her   
princess gown. The glamour hiding her hair's true color flickered off for the time and   
her hair returned to its true silver color. Arriving at a series of circles in the ground,   
she knelt as power began flowing through them. From the circles, energy arced into   
the sky and coalesced into a miniature form of her mother.  
  
Softly Serenity cried out "Mother."   
  
"Don't cry my daughter. I will always be there for you in your heart. Trust in Father   
Morgan he will help guide you. You have recovered all of your memories except for   
those surrounding your death. When you fight Metalia, you will need to know all that   
happened. I apologize in advance, as these are painful memories, but it must be done."  
  
As the hologram of Queen Serenity finished speaking, the moon faded from view and   
was replaced by the Moon Palace of old, on the day of the attack. Serenity saw for the   
first time how the enemy forces cut down her guardians. Saw again the death of   
Endymion and her own self inflicted wound. Then she saw her mother's ultimate   
sacrifice, the sealing away of Metalia, and the souls of her and her friends being sent   
to the future.  
  
As the memories ceased and she was returned to the present, tears streaked down   
Serenity face, being shed for the brutal deaths of her friends. After a few moments of   
mourning, she looked up and saw that the hologram of her mother had faded. It was   
time to leave, but she also had one more task to accomplish first. Moving into the   
circles, she felt herself connecting with the lunar computer. Her mind quickly   
assessed the computer's systems and found them to be surprisingly intact. Giving the   
mental command, she unlocked the remote command center on Earth from restricted   
access to general access by the Sailor Senshi and her royal advisors.  
  
Letting her consciousness expand outwards once again, she found the trail of her   
teleport here to the moon. Focusing on the imprint from her previous teleport, she   
once again felt the pull of energy as her body was swept up in a teleport. Later when   
she had mastered her powers, she would be able to teleport to places other than the   
moon and back again.  
  
Completing the teleport, her form shimmered back to that of Usagi as she felt her   
exhausted body slump to the ground, though the crescent moon remained glowing on   
her forehead. Not moving for a moment, she thought about her solo teleport, a power   
that she did not know that she had. As she thought about what she felt when she   
initiated the teleport, she realized how she could power up her guardians.  
  
While Usagi was at the moon reliving its final moments, Morgan got to know   
ChibiUsa while they munched on some ice cream. They had returned before Usagi   
had and consequently ChibiUsa had begun to panic over the disappearance of her   
mother. Morgan could feel how Usagi's energy flooded the place and somehow knew   
that she had teleported, like the Senshi of old. He had attempted to reassure ChibiUsa   
with this, but the child was not buying his explanation.   
  
A flash of light signaled the return of Usagi. Father Morgan saw the exhaustion on   
Usagi's face as she reverted back and moved to catch her as she fell. Laying her down   
on the ground he looked over at the child and gave her "you see" smile. After a couple   
of minutes, Usagi stirred and sat up, as she did so the crescent moon finally began to   
fade from view.  
  
"Did you find your answers" asked Father Morgan.  
  
"Yes I have, and you are right I have the power to aid them." Pulling out her   
communicator, she activated the channel that contacted her Guardians. "Minna-san   
meet me at the Crown Arcade."  
  
"We are already here, or actually upstairs now." Came Minako's reply.  
  
"Good," then putting away her communicator, she turned to ChibiUsa "Come on   
ChibiUsa lets not keep them waiting. Thanks again Morgan-san."  
  
"It was my pleasure Usagi-sama."  
  
********  
  
"Ok what did you want us all here at the arcade for." Rei asked as Usagi arrived.   
Though Rei did let Usagi get a nice kiss from Mamoru, who arrived a little earlier,   
first.  
  
Usagi responded by sticking her tongue out at Rei and then turning back to the group   
she told them why, "We are going to visit Central Control."  
  
"But I thought you said you needed to unlock the controls first?" questioned Ami  
  
"I did, and I have. The controls had to be unlocked from the Central Lunar Computer,   
but everything is now correctly set. And Ami, you need to promise me that you won't   
spend all your time down here."  
  
Under the strong glare of Usagi, Ami agreed to her conditions. With Ami's   
agreement, Usagi led them into the arcade and towards the Sailor V video game. As   
Usagi placed her hand on the screen Ami noticed a laser scanner read the palm, after   
which they suddenly found themselves falling very quickly downwards. Holes had   
opened up in the floor beneath each of them and they found themselves sliding down   
personal tubes. With a slightly rough landing, they were deposited in a large room.  
  
Except for the massive computer bank that wrapped around the other three walls, the   
room was fairly non-descript. "The computer now recognizes each of you as   
authorized users, but that is not the primary reason why I have brought you here.   
Minna-san you stated that you felt powerless in face of the enemies we have been   
fighting. There is a way to power each of you up, however there is a cost.  
  
"Till now, once this all ended I could have removed your memories of recent events   
and allowed you to go back to being normal teenagers. Your powers are a result of an   
object called a Sailor Crystal that each of you has. Actually, the Sailor Crystal is you;   
it is a physical manifestation of your soul. Unlike the Star Seeds of others, ours are   
bound with the soul of our respective planet, allowing us to draw energy from the   
planet.   
  
"Unlike me, each of you was reborn pure Tehran. When you first used your henshin   
sticks, you changed slightly with the awakening of your Sailor Crystal. However, the   
full power of the crystal was not activated, which restricted you to only using some of   
your powers. But, at the same time prevented irreversible changes from being made to   
your body. The changes that have happened so far I can heal with the Ginzuishou.   
However, once the Sailor Crystal reaches full maturity I cannot place it back in   
slumber, you will be forever committed to the path of being Sailor Senshi.  
  
"If you accept the power that I am about to offer you, you will in only a few years no   
longer be Tehran, but the exact person you were back during the Silver Millennium.   
For me there was never really a choice. I was born Lunarian, only hidden by strong   
glamour magic. While initially it would have been possible for me to have removed   
my own memories, that is no longer an option. Even before I recovered the   
Ginzuishou, I had been expanding my powers, pushing against the limits. The pushes   
while not enough to break the spells were enough to prevent them from ever being   
fully reset again. It would only be a matter of days or weeks before my memories   
would resurface if I reset those spells."  
  
Usagi was going to continue; however, Rei spoke up. "Usagi there is no question on   
this matter. We don't care about going back to a normal life after this is all over. You   
mean too much to each of us to let you go. I am willing to endure whatever hardships   
are necessary to keep you; you know that each of you loves you dearly. Now don't be   
an odango-atama and power us up."  
  
Usagi looked around the room and noticed everyone else nodding. She knew that this   
was going to be the outcome, but she still had to warn them and give them the choice,   
she would not force anything on them. For the second time in the day, she willed the   
Ginzuishou out and began to focus her energy into it. She felt an arm wrap around her   
from the right and felt the reassuring presence of Endymion as she shifted into her   
princess form. Grasping her legs, she also felt the presence of ChibiUsa who had   
moved to help her mother as well.  
  
The silver energy of her aura gleamed brightly along her body and then began to mix   
with the golden energy from her right and the pink energy from her left. Looking out   
into the room, she saw not her friends, but their auras. Each aura glowed dimly but as   
her gaze met each, it flared up brightly and the planetary crest became visible on the   
Senshi's forehead. With their aura's glowing brightly, she could now trace back the   
paths to each of the planets seeing the connection between Sailor Crystal and the   
planet's soul.  
  
To the two cats, the experience was a fascinating light show. All the others, except for   
Usagi had dropped into a meditative trance. Luna and Artemis watching the energy   
that played along everybody realized why Usagi did not want to do this at the Shrine,   
but here at the Central Command instead where they were assured privacy. As they   
watched, four silvery balls of energy formed in front of Serenity.  
  
With a mental command, she flung them at each of the Senshi. As a ball hit a Senshi,   
it first ran through the Senshi's entire body before funneling into her Sailor Crystal.   
From there, it arced instantaneously to the planet and as it did the channel of energy   
between the planet and Senshi finally opened fully. As the new energy back flowed   
from the planet and reached a Senshi it was marked by their eyes opening wide as   
memories came flooding back. Unfortunately, these were not happy memories, but   
painful ones of their death. And then the still active link to Serenity caused them to   
receive the full visions of the fall of the kingdom.  
  
The memories only took a few minutes each to flood through their minds, and when   
they had finished the Senshi dropped one by one to the ground. As each dropped their   
aura flickered out and soon the room was once again at its normal lighting level. With   
her link to the Senshi severed, Serenity shifted back into Usagi and collapsed into the   
arms of Mamoru. Mamoru moved to sit down with his love sleeping against him,   
while ChibiUsa moved to lie down against him as well.  
  
"Nice power up, she put everyone to sleep" Artemis commented sarcastically.   
However, Luna was not too fond of the comment and he earned himself a swipe from   
her claws.  
  
"None of them are used to the kinds of energy they just handled, so they will be out of   
it for a bit while their bodies recover." Explained Luna. "Come lets see what   
information the computer has for us."  
  
With that, the two cats bounded up to it and began accessing its sensor logs.  
  
********  
  
About thirty minutes later, the Senshi began to wake up. Even before Ami had fully   
stood up, she began to drag her body over to the nearest computer terminal with a   
wild gleam in her eyes. Reaching the terminal, she began feeding it commands faster   
than Artemis or Luna could read them. Within half a minute, she had already   
accomplished more than Artemis or Luna had in the previous half hour.  
  
"Minna there is a problem." She called out a few minutes later.   
  
The other Senshi were still a bit groggy from awakening, but the announcement of   
trouble instantly got their attention. As they gathered around Ami, Luna asked her to   
explain.  
  
"The sensors have detected a substantial negative energy field covering Tokyo. It   
does not seem to be the result of the Dark Kingdom. However they appear to have   
discovered it as well, look." She said while pointing to the imagery, which showed   
tendrils of energy snaking away from Tokyo.  
  
"What are those?" asked Venus  
  
"Manna streams." Supplied Luna "They transfer manna from a location to a mage.   
And from the looks of it, it appears that the Dark Kingdom is using these ones   
connected to the negative energy field as a persistent energy source. This is not good   
and explains why they were able to attack with three youmas last night. I am afraid   
that they are now even more dangerous as they are no longer in need of energy."  
  
"That is not all, according to my calculations they will soon have enough power to   
release Metalia." Stated Ami, causing a hush to fall upon the room.  
  
"We need to take this battle to them." Declared Makoto as she slammed a fist into her   
palm."  
  
"Agreed" said Usagi "Ami see if you can find the location of the Dark Kingdom's   
base. But first it is getting late and we are all exhausted so we should better go." After   
a pause she continued "And that means you too Ami.  
  
"Hai." Ami reluctantly agreed.  
  
-End Chapter 16  
  
End Notes:  
Wow, that was a long one, though I guess when you have the Senshi fight a half   
dozen battles at the start.  
  
I would like to thank Comet Moon for providing me with the scene of Ami acting   
like Usagi in being late to school.  
  
For those who might be a bit confused by Diana shape shifting, Luna and Artemis   
are from a planet of shape shifting felines (this is only in the Magna, not the   
Anime). They are able to take both a human-like and feline forms. Luna and   
Artemis with their retched memories do not yet remember that they are not cats,   
however this is not a problem with Diana as she comes from the future. However,   
Diana is not supposed to use her human-form, as that would affect the timeline by making Luna and Artemis remember sooner.   
  
Unfortunately, the next set of chapters may be longer in coming, as it looks like I will be busy with class work for my Masters of Engineering degree. I am also doing my Masters project this semester, which will suck up most of the remaining free time.  



	17. The War Prayer

The Fragility of Time  
Chapter 17: "The War Prayer"  
Author: etj4Eagle  
Email: etj4Eagle@yahoo.com  
http://www.geocities.com/etj4eagle  
Lasted Edited: 12/6/00  
  
Disclaimer: A reminder I own none of the characters of this story,   
all rights are owned by others.   
If you distribute the story, do only   
so freely and inform me of where you post it.  
  
_______________________________________  
Kunzite stood on a forested hill overlooking the city of Tokyo. "Soon, very soon my   
people you will be freed of your bondage. You have suffered long enough under the   
rule of the Lunarians, but a new dawn is fast approaching, an era when us Tehrans   
will take our rightful place in the galaxy." As much as he wanted to move quickly and   
grasp that new dawn he saw, he knew that to move too fast now would destroy   
everything; an error that Beryl had unfortunately made too many times in her lust for   
power and vengeance.  
  
With anticipation and Beryl's impatience driving him forward, he still managed to   
avoid the fatal mistake of rushing, which befell his predecessors. Hence in his desire   
to avoid making a costly mistake by moving too fast, he was giving the Senshi a day   
to recuperate before he delivered his ultimatum; a cornered animal fights back with no   
concern for its life, but back off a bit and it is easy to kill. The same was true with   
war. Allow time for this morning's events to sink and they might just give up the   
Ginzuishou. Not that Endymion or Serenity would be spared by said action, though   
the lives of the others could possibly be spared. One of them, Venus had caught his   
eye, and he had the feeling that she had before as well. She could never replace   
Zoisite, but she could make a good concubine.   
  
********  
Tsukino residence  
  
Usagi sat at the table slowly placing the food from her plate into her mouth, not   
interested in the food, thoughts from the afternoon's activities instead were on the   
forefront of her mind. Beside her sat ChibiUsa who was having no trouble shoveling   
the food into her mouth. Though, the little girl still noticed her mother's worried   
expression and was hence also worried.  
  
"Usagi, honey, is there anything wrong" asked her mother.  
  
Usagi looked up from her plate, her initial reaction being to just tell her mother that   
everything was all right, but mother's could always see straight through those lies, she   
should know she was one herself now. "I visited the ruins of my kingdom today.   
Mother's spirit showed me all that happened during the fall including my friends   
being cut down by the enraged Tehran army.  
  
"I don't want it to happen again. I don't want them to sacrifice their lives for me. But   
after last night, the final battle is inevitable and soon. I…" she trailed off unable to   
talk anymore.  
  
Ikuko saw the grief and worry that her daughter tried to hide and wished that the fates   
had not burdened her daughter with such responsibilities. She wanted to be the good   
mother and take her daughter up in her arms and solve her worries for her. But she   
could no longer solve the problems and help carry the responsibilities that her   
daughter now shouldered.  
  
"Usagi don't worry. You are Sailor Moon, you will dust them for sure!" said a very   
enthusiastic Shingo.  
  
Everyone at the table turned to look at Shingo, with varying levels of surprise in their   
eyes. The only one not taken off guard was Luna. She alone knew how he really felt   
about his sister, though Usagi did also have a good idea. Lately her role as Usagi's   
mentor had grown to also include Shingo. Her regular interaction with Shingo began a   
couple weeks after he had learned that his sister was Sailor Moon  
  
"Err… Luna could I talk with you?" asked Shingo, fumbling for words.   
With a nod, Luna followed Shingo into the room, hopping up onto his lap as   
he sat down. He petted her for a bit, trying to find the right words to express   
his feelings.  
  
Luna could easily sense the unease that he radiated and decided to help him   
out. "It is about your sister, Usagi, isn't it?" she asked.  
  
"Hai, I thought I knew Usagi, but she is Sailor Moon."  
  
Luna knew where some of his frustrations were coming from; he did have a   
massive crush on Sailor Moon after all. "You love your sister right?"  
  
"Hai, of course."  
  
"Do you believe that Usagi has what it takes to be Sailor Moon?"  
  
Shingo thought long and hard about that one. He remembered the times she   
had shown surprising strength in facing hardships for others. One time many   
years ago came to mind when she defended him from bullies at the park. And   
of course, there was her relationship with ChibiUsa. "Hai, I may tease her, but   
I have always believed in her. She has always been there for me when I need   
her."  
  
Luna looked approvingly at Shingo as he continued, "But what about me. I am   
nothing compared to her. She is a princess and one of the Sailor Senshi."  
  
"Shingo, Usagi does not think any less of you or your family, having learned   
the truth about herself. She loves you dearly and only wishes to bring you   
happiness."  
  
Shingo looked into Luna's face, the tears on his face clearly visible, "You   
mean it Luna?" As Luna nodded and purred even more strongly he began to   
accept what she had told him.  
  
As Luna left his room, she passed Usagi who shot her a questioning look. She   
said nothing, not wanting to betray Shingo's confidence. However, as she later   
found out, Usagi had been able to figure out what had happened without her   
having said anything. Later that night after Luna had left to go visit Artemis   
and the rest of the family had headed off to bed, Usagi had henshin and gone   
into Shingo's room.  
  
Hearing a knock at his door Shingo looked up from the book he was reading.   
"Come in." he called. As the door opened his mouth hung open while his book   
flopped to the ground, as in walked Sailor Moon. She walked over to his bed   
and sat down next to him.  
  
Grapping his hands she held them in her lap before beginning. "Shingo-kun,   
you are my brother in this life and that is all that matters. I may have been a   
princess in my former life and will be queen in the future, but you are and   
always will be my brother." Usagi wrapped her brother up in a hug. "Shingo I   
will always love you."  
  
Shingo looked at his sister, with tears once again in his eyes, "Thank you,   
Usagi." Usagi felt a mothering instinct come over her and pulled Shingo in   
against her chest. He did not resist and instead allowed himself to be wrapped   
up in her warmth, sharing in her strength as Sailor Moon.   
  
After that evening, Luna and Shingo talked privately periodically, she had been very   
proud of Usagi when she had learned of what Usagi had done. She knew how much   
Shingo cared about his sister and thought of her ability as a Sailor Senshi. After   
getting over his initial astonishment of finding out that Usagi was Sailor Moon, his   
opinion of the Moon warrior did not drop at all, and even to Luna's surprise, it   
seemed to elevate some.  
  
No one else in the family really knew about the change that had overcome Shingo.   
Luna suspected that Usagi knew, as lately it was becoming near impossible to hide   
anything of the heart from her. Many times after a late night battle, after everyone else   
had gone to sleep she would see Shingo sneak into the room for a moment to check on   
Usagi himself. The night that Usagi had spent at Mamoru's, it was Shingo who had   
calmed her down. Luna had gone into Shingo's room still furious at ChibiUsa for not   
telling her where to find Usagi. But, Shingo's worry over his sister's well being had   
straightened out her priorities, as she remembered why Usagi had been unable to   
come home in the first place.  
  
"Hai, Momma you can defeat the Dark Kingdom, I am proof of that." Agreed   
ChibiUsa  
  
Usagi looked up at the warm support coming from her brother and daughter. Her   
brows crossed for a moment before she too agreed. "Hai, they won't defeat us twice!"  
  
********  
  
Later that night after having tucked ChibiUsa in and having finished her homework   
Usagi headed down to the kitchen to get a glass of milk to drink. Noticing a light on   
in the living room she headed in there, finding her mother sitting in one of the chairs   
reading a book. Noticing her daughter, Ikuko looked up. "Are you feeling better   
Usagi?" she asked.  
  
"Hai, mom." Usagi replied, though as she did so she noticed an unease emanating   
from her mom. Sitting down on the couch she asked, "I'm fine, but something is   
worrying you? What is it?"  
  
"It is nothing." Ikuko tried to say, but her daughter's knowing eyes would not cut her   
any slack. Giving in she replied "You now remember your real mother, and she is still   
here to help guide you, you don't need me, and I can't help you with any of your   
problems anymore."  
  
Usagi had been afraid that something like this might happen. The scene with Shingo a   
few weeks back was the same fundamental issue. "Mom you are always going to be   
my mother. Yes, Queen Serenity is also my mother, but you also raised me. I am who   
I am today because of you.  
  
"I am very lucky in that I have had two great mothers. Queen Serenity will never   
replace you, even if she wasn't a spirit. Unless you decide to disown me I will always   
be you daughter and no matter what will always love you." As Usagi was saying the   
last bit, she had gotten up from the couch and had moved to embrace her mother.  
  
Then with a little laugh she added "And do you know how hard it is to get a hug from   
a spirit. I would just fall on my face." The humor was what was needed and Ikuko   
smiled her worries fleeing her mind.  
  
"Agrito Usagi," she said while holding her daughter.  
  
********  
Elsewhere that evening  
  
Another person also spent the evening contemplating the events of the past few days,   
and many days before then as well. Yesterday he had nearly lost his daughter yet   
again, this time to one of those creatures that marauded around the city. On one level,   
he did not trust that Rubeus fellow. However, he also did not want Hotaru to be hurt   
anymore; he wanted to allow her to live a normal life.  
  
Emotions warred amongst themselves. At one time he would have gone with his   
instincts and walked away from Rubeus forever. It was of yet not too late to end their   
little partnership. Instead, his emotions hardened into a resolve to protect Hotaru,   
which was wrapped around a dark shard embedded in his soul. With his mind set, a   
black crescent moon momentarily flared on his forehead.  
  
Trapped in the mists of time a shadowy figure laughed, soon he would be free and the   
earth of the past looked so inviting. With the abilities of his newest pawn, the powers   
of the droids would be increased even further, and there would be no way the Senshi   
could stop them.  
  
In another room in the house a slender child slept, the worries of her father not   
touching her. Instead, concern over her friend laced her dreams. She wished that she   
could help ChibiUsa in some way, even though she was sickly. In her dreams, the face   
of that small child Senshi from the other day kept coming back to her. Something told   
her that she ought to know it from somewhere. But every time she tried to look at the   
face, the Senshi would vanish only to appear a little distant.  
  
Once more, she tried to go up to the Senshi dressed in pink, whom this time   
was sitting on a log. As she walked towards the log, the ground seemed to   
shift from that of a peaceful forest to a mountainside and then finally to a   
cratered landscape bare of life. The log became a rock and what was a lake   
became a child looking up at a blue planet hanging in the sky, the planet Earth.  
  
Arriving at the rock she turned to look at the Senshi to ask her if she could  
sit down there, but the Senshi no longer sat there, instead a woman sat there.  
For some reason she felt like she should know this person, but the link was not   
forthcoming. Instinct taking over she began to curtsey.  
  
"No need to be so formal Hotaru-chan, it is just the two of us." The lady said   
while waving off her curtsey. Then indicating to the vacant spot on the rock.   
"Have a seat princess."  
  
Hotaru sat down and then looked closely at the other lady. She had elegant   
silver hair in the same style as ChibiUsa and Usagi and on her forehead lay a   
golden crescent moon.  
  
"I am sure that you have questions, but it is not time for those to be answered.   
Only when you awake will you find the answers you seek princess. I brought   
you here so that I could say that I am sorry for everything, and that I am happy   
that you will finally be able to find happiness under my daughter. Don't worry   
about taking care of my grand-daughter, you are already more than you know   
and for both me and my daughter I thank you."  
  
As Queen Serenity finished speaking, the scenery once again shifted, back to   
that of earth. As Hotaru looked around she realized that the women she had   
been talking to had vanished. "Hotaru-chan!" came a call and she turned to   
see ChibiUsa running towards her.   
  
As a silvery light passed out of the bedroom, Hotaru's body finally stilled from the   
restless slumber that it had been in all evening. The silvery light seemed to pause for a   
moment before streaking off towards the moon. Inside a content Hotaru dreamt, a   
smile beginning to cross her face.  
  
The scenery had changed back to that of the Earth from that of the moon.   
She stood with ChibiUsa at the side of a large field and nearby stood a large   
machine with the remains of wooden crates next to it. "What do you think it   
is?" asked Hotaru.  
  
"Let's find out." ChibiUsa replied. Following ChibiUsa towards the machine,   
she noticed that ChibiUsa seemed to be wearing an outfit that resembled that   
of Sailor Moon and then looking down at herself, she noticed that she too was   
wearing a Sailor Fuku. Though in her case, her fuku did not resemble any of   
them and she was carrying a large pole arm as well. With a shrug, she put the   
puzzlement aside for the moment to look at the machine. It gleamed brightly   
in the afternoon sun, clearly labeled on its sides with the word "ACME."   
Now why does that make me feel uneasy? Hotaru wondered to herself.  
  
As ChibiUsa began playing around with the controls, she looked around the   
field. Scanning it, she realized that the ground was flattened, as if a stampede   
of both large and small creature had passed through. I wonder if this machine   
is responsible for this? Near the center of the field, two distant objects caught   
her eye. Looking closer, she realized that they were people, who were just now   
slowly getting up from the ground, looking very worse for the wear.   
  
"Tigger-chan!" cried ChibiUsa interrupting Hotaru's investigation of the field.   
Turning to look at her cohort she noticed that ChibiUsa now had a picture of a   
tiger on some kind of screen that was attached to the machine. Hotaru wanted   
to voice a word of caution to ChibiUsa, but she suddenly found herself unable   
to speak as ChibiUsa pressed a throbbing green button marked with the word   
"On."   
  
Activated, the machine began to whirl as lights flashed along its length. Her   
ears picked up what she thought to be "Oh no." coming from those two in the   
field. Unconsciously taking a step back, she looked up at the top of the   
machine as its roof began to pull back. "Well I guess we now find out what   
this machine does." she quietly said.  
  
"The Wonderful thing about Tiggers,  
"Is Tiggers are Wonderful things."  
  
Came the singing of a male voice from inside the machine. And an orange   
tiger like creature bounced out from within. Landing on its tail, it proceeded to   
pounce out onto the field. The arrival of Tigger was met with a cry of "Sugoi"   
from ChibiUsa.  
  
A second voice from within the machine joined the first who was now a fair   
way down the field.  
  
"Their tops are made out of rubber,   
"The bottoms are made out of springs."  
  
Hotaru was now confused by the appearance of that second one. Then a   
thought began to cross her mind about what this machine was and what had   
happened here. Her fear was confirmed when a third and fourth Tigger joined   
the song in its third verse.  
  
"They're bouncy, trouncy, flouncy, pouncy,   
"Fun, fun, fun, fun, fun."  
  
From down the field Hotaru could distinctly here the cries of fear coming from   
the other two, as they cried "Not again." and "Please someone save us." By   
now the machine was spitting out a new Tigger every second and the field was   
quickly becoming a mess of Tiggers pouncing and trouncing, with those other   
two being at the dead center of all the action.  
  
"But the most wonderful thing about Tiggers is,   
"I'm the only one."  
  
Having finished the song, they immediately began singing it again. ChibiUsa   
appeared to be enjoying the scene, however Hotaru realized that they might be   
in a lot of trouble. As she thought about picking up ChibiUsa and making a   
run for it, for some reason she felt a lot stronger being dressed in this Senshi   
garb, a portal open to her side. Two heads popped out of the portal, after   
looking both ways they addressed her and ChibiUsa: "psk you may want to   
come with us. Those two are not going to be happy with you reactivating   
Eagle-sensei's cloning machine." one of them said.   
  
As Hotaru stepped into the portal, she began to become aware of her alarm clock   
beeping. Rubbing her eyes, she opened them taking in the morning light. What a   
strange dream there at the end. she thought. While she did not remember much, she   
no longer felt worry for ChibiUsa, knowing somehow that her friend was all right.   
And why were the two of us dressed as Senshi?  
  
********  
Juuban Junior High School  
  
Haruna watched as Usagi and company entered the classroom, on time this time.   
Looks like they were all able to get a good night's sleep, they seem much more   
upbeat and full of life today. They did not arrive with much time to spare today, all   
having slept late that morning. So, instead of chatting with the other students they   
headed straight towards their seats. Sitting down, Usagi took a moment to get   
ChibiUsa set for the morning, making sure that the little girl had her work out and   
knew what lessons she should do during the morning lessons.  
  
Haruna waited patiently for Usagi to take care of her task, not at the least bit annoyed   
with the delay. The other student's had also noted Haruna delaying the start of   
instruction for Usagi, and then thinking a bit further realized that every day ChibiUsa   
was here Haruna seemed to be in a much better mood. One of those days Umino had   
tidbits about serious set backs in Haruna's love life and they had all expected her to   
very harsh that day, instead they got a much more mellow Haruna. Consequently, they   
all were becoming quite happy to see ChibiUsa walk in with her cousin.   
  
Later as they broke for lunch, Usagi caught Umino pacing nervously at the school   
door, something clearly on his mind. "Umino-san is something wrong?" she asked.  
  
"Ah, Usagi-san, didn't realize you were there." he replied. "What would make you   
think that something's wrong?"  
  
"Aside from your nervous pacing and the scared look on your face?" she supplied.  
  
"Oh." He said then after a pause, "It is Naru."  
  
"Huh? You like Naru?" Usagi asked a little too loudly  
  
"Ssh, not so loud. I need your help Usagi-san. What should I do so that she falls for   
me?" he asked.  
  
********  
Afternoon  
  
Across Tokyo, TV screens lost their signal, going to static. Frustrated viewers flipped   
through the channels searching for a signal. Then only moments later the static on all   
channels resolved into an image of a silver haired individual wearing some sort of   
military uniform. Behind him stretched beautiful fields. "Princess Serenity as acting   
leader of the earth, you will turn over the Ginzuishou to us. Otherwise, I will be   
forced to destroy more of Tokyo. We have suffered enough under the tyrannical rule   
of the Silver Millennium and from this point forward us Tehrans are free, we will take   
our rightful place as rulers for this solar system. Turn over the crystal within 48 hours   
and I will consider letting you live." the man demanded.  
  
Then as quickly as the strange transmission came it was gone, returning the viewers to   
their normal programming. While its intended viewer missed the original airing, many   
others of importance did catch it. Until now, those people had refrained from taking a   
side in this war. Their men had begun to ally themselves with one side, even though   
they had orders to detain that side as well. But, now a decision point had been   
reached, no longer could the current policy be maintained. A response was needed;   
only one response was possibly, to make official what the soldiers had already   
decided amongst themselves.  
  
********  
Crown Arcade during the transmission  
  
For what seemed like a long absence from the arcade, Usagi and company spent a   
relaxing afternoon playing video games. After school had let out Usagi had suggested   
coming here, and was quite surprised when Luna readily agreed with her. They after   
all were still children and should have an opportunity to enjoy this time when they   
weren't busy dealing with the Dark Kingdom, and furthermore with the final battle   
starting to loom on the horizon they all needed to be fully relaxed and rested if they   
expected to be victorious.   
  
Looking up from the Sailor V game Usagi noticed that Ami once again had her   
computer out; standing up she walked over to the blue haired girl. "And what do you   
think you are doing? I thought I told you to have some fun."  
  
Ami looked up, her face turning red attempting to eak out an excuse she said "But…."   
However, Usagi did not give her any opportunity, as she quickly reached over,   
grabbed the Mercurian computer and closing it placed it in her subspace pocket.  
  
"You will get this back after we leave the arcade, and only if you actually play some   
of the games and enjoy yourself." Usagi declared. Giving in, Ami moved off towards   
one of the game consoles. Sitting in front of the game, a smile broke her face as she   
began playing. The game of course was a strategy/puzzle one, but Usagi decided to   
take her victories where she could.  
  
Returning to another game as well Usagi muttered to herself about wireless computer   
networks. She of course did not understand anything about them, only that apparently   
the Central Command computers and Ami's computer were on one, which meant Ami   
could access everything she needed from her palmtop. After Ami had told them of her   
announcement this morning, Usagi had very quickly realized that she should have   
been more careful in unlocking full access to the main computers. Previously with the   
only access being at Central Command itself, Usagi had thought she would have been   
able to keep Ami from spending too much time with the computer system. But, with   
Ami able to access everything from the palmtop, keeping Ami from getting too   
absorbed was now a very difficult task. Though the confiscation solution seemed to   
work well enough. Turning her attention to the game, Usagi began to engross herself   
in it, till about an hour later a shout distracted her.  
  
"YES!!" heads in the arcade turned to regard a suddenly blushing Ami who at some   
point had moved to one of the fighting games.  
  
"That's very good Ami, but next time you win one of the matches you don't have to   
let the entire arcade know." Minako said to her friend as she put an arm around a very   
red Ami and sat her back down on the stool.  
  
"Hey everyone, the Defense Minister is about to make an announcement!" called a   
man as he popped his head into the arcade before disappearing back out to spread the   
news. The Senshi looked amongst themselves with puzzlement and concern before   
joining everyone else in leaving the arcade and searching for a TV.   
  
They and many others crowded into an electronics store's TV section. The open space   
was now packed shoulder to shoulder with people wanting to know what was going   
on. Only a few moments after their arrival, the TV signal broke away from its regular   
programming to reveal the Defense Minister. "Ladies and Gentlemen as of four-  
fourteen this afternoon cable signals in the Tokyo area were hijacked by an unknown   
party and used to deliver the following transmission. The camera zoomed in on a TV,   
which was beside him on the stage. After viewing Kunzite's transmission, the camera   
zoomed back out to focus on the Defense Minister.  
  
"We do not know who this person is. As for Princess Serenity, she is apparently the   
one known as Sailor Moon, beyond that, we know nothing else about her. This person   
claming to speak for the Earth made a threat against both Princess Serenity and the   
sovereign nation of Japan. Our nation does not take to threats lightly nor do we   
negotiate with terrorists.  
  
"Consequently, this announcement is a declaration of war against both our nation and   
our allies. We will stand firm against this threat and urge all our allies to join us in   
standing against these terrorists. This man claims to speak for the people of the earth,   
however he does not speak for the people of Japan. Additionally the other world   
leaders have given me their assurances that he does not speak for their nations as well.  
  
"Princess Serenity if you are watching this, we the people of Earth do not stand beside   
this fellow, instead we stand with you. Do not worry yourself about our well being. If   
these forces win this war, all of humanity is doomed. We are a strong people and will   
face whatever hardships are necessary; our sacrifice will bring you honor."  
  
As the screen went blank, a calm hush fell over the crowd as they absorbed what had   
been said. And, then soft applause was heard, an applause that very quickly   
snowballed into a deafening roar, leaving the Senshi bewildered. Usagi looked around   
not quite sure what to make of the applauding crowd. A crowd, which had begun to   
notice that it held in its center a group of bewildered girls and began to instinctively   
move back.  
  
From the back of her mind, knowledge of how to proceed came to Usagi, lessons   
learned from her previous life. The Guardians looked at their leader unsure of how to   
proceed, but knowledge began to flow into their minds as well as Usagi's stance   
changed. While the crowd was moving back away from the group of six girls, it had   
not yet turned its attention towards them. However, the cries of: "Moon prism power,   
Mercury Star Power, Venus Star Power, Mars Star Power, Jupiter Star Power Make   
Up!" changed that, causing it to turn inwards to the regard five pillars of energy that   
began to erupt, while at the same time moving even farther back. Usagi herself simply   
allowed her form to flow as she shimmered into her princess form.  
  
Now standing in the center of the crowd were the Guardians, Princess Serenity and   
her daughter ChibiMoon. "I thank you all for your support. We will not forget your   
sacrifices; I grieve for everyone that gets injured in this war. However, even if the   
price is high I cannot let this evil return to destroy Tokyo and Earth, my home."  
  
While her speech might have been short, the crowd did not care. Applause ran out   
again, but even louder this time, and a pathway opened leading towards the door. As   
Serenity began walking out with her daughter and Guardians in tow, she would   
occasionally stop to great people along the corridor, instinct from the past now   
guiding her every move. Leaving the store and reaching the street, she reached out her   
arm as her transformation broach appeared in it. With a call she was Sailor Moon and   
the Senshi were off, running along the roofs, while the crowd they had left behind   
continued to grow even larger.  
  
********  
  
Mamoru missed both the ultimatum and the subsequent announcement by the Prime   
Minister as he had been spending the afternoon studying in the library. Deeply   
immersed in his organic chemistry text, he suddenly felt the urge to stand up as a   
strange feeling overcame his body. He did not know what to make of it, as the feeling   
was a warmth of the sort when he became Tuxedo-kamen, but more subtle and it felt   
as if it was coming from his soul, but from without as well. He felt energized and   
reassured as the energy began to slowly and then more quickly build up in his soul.   
And then suddenly it busted out and washed over his body as golden energy.  
  
When the golden flash died down, Prince Endymion of the Earth now stood in his   
place. Looking down he realized that only for the second time this life he was in his   
prince form. Now what would have caused this? he wondered. Attempting to return   
to his other form he found that he could not, the energy still swept too strongly   
through his body. Another energy rippled through his body signaling the change of   
Usagi to her princess form. Serenity, so she has been affected as well. I wonder what   
is going on? Deciding to go look for answers he began to climb down the stairs and   
out of the study area. As he walked down and out, he noted to his puzzlement that no   
one appeared to be around.  
  
Where is everyone, it doesn't feel like there's been an attack here. Arriving at the   
Student Union he noticed a large crowd gathering, walking up to a person at the rear   
he asked him what was going on. Endymion frowned as the guy began recounting   
Kunzite's message and then Japan's response. As the student finished telling his tale,   
he for the first time really looked at Endymion and saw the armor he wore, his eyes   
going wide in the process.  
  
"You have been of great assistance my friend." Endymion spoke. He had planned on   
speaking softly, but instead his voice carried strong over the crowd and it turned to   
regard its prince. Seeing them turning expectantly, Endymion addressed his people,   
"My name is Endymion, the Earth and I are bound as one with one soul. My people,   
the evil that threatens us is an ancient one, but this time it will not send us into   
another dark age. We will resist its siren call and not give into hate.  
  
"The man who spoke the threat used to represent the planet as one of my generals, but   
he betrayed you and me when he fell to that siren's call. He no longer speaks for the   
people of Earth. Together with the help of the Sailor Senshi we will defeat this evil   
once and for all!" Endymion ended his speech by thrusting his sword up in the air, an   
action, which was met by cheers from the crowd. Starting with Tokyo and then   
spreading across the globe the energy of earth, that of the golden energy of life began   
racing back in forth from person to person. As it did so, it grew stronger and in   
response, Endymion felt himself growing stronger. With that strength, the persona of   
Endymion began to awaken and memories of the past began to return. He knew who   
these Dark Kingdom generals really were, how they had been seduced along with the   
rest of humanity, and the disgrace of his people as they slaughtered the peaceful   
people of the Moon. 'Never again' he vowed to himself.  
  
Coming out of his thoughts, he realized that he was in a bit of trouble as the crowd   
had dramatically increased in size, getting out was not going to be easy. But, then in a   
flash of golden energy he was gone, and he found himself back in the top reaches of   
the library where he had been studying. This time when he tried reverting back to   
Mamoru, the change occurred instantly, as the power had finished awakening.  
  
The final battle is approaching, but this time I will be able to give Serenity my full   
help. The full power of Earth will be able to be brought into the battle against Metalia   
and Beryl. he thought to himself before returning to his studies, knowing that he   
would have to go talk with Usagi and the others later that night.  
  
********  
Elsewhere  
  
Kunzite sat in a little café smugly watching the other patrons first panic as his   
transmission was broadcast and then again when the Prime Minister came on. Fools   
they are outclassed, they can do nothing to stop the revolution. As the broadcast   
ended he turned back to the paper he had been reading, the story had attracted his   
attention as apparently that other mysterious force had decided to attack the other   
night as well. He still had no clue as to who this other force was or what their goals   
were.  
  
The sound of applause pulled him out of his contemplation. Looking around the room,   
he was surprised to see everyone applauding the Prime Minister's decision. Listening   
in on a nearby couple's conversation, he heard one of them saying that he did not care   
if he fell in this war, as long as the Sailor Senshi won it.  
  
What is going on? Is the bondage so strong, that these slaves of the Lunarians are   
willing to die for the Senshi? How can I convince Sailor Moon to turn over the crystal   
if the people of this island see dieing as an honor? Then suddenly he felt pain wash   
over his body as he collapsed to the ground. What is going on? Why do I suddenly   
feel so weak? Summoning dark energy he flushed his body and the pain vanished.   
What was that, some new kind of attack? Hearing the summoning of Beryl, he   
teleported out of the café.  
  
********  
  
Kunzite looked up from where he kneeled into the eyes of the fuming Queen Beryl.   
He did not know what had her irritated, but figured that it had to be associated with   
the strange sensations that had been hitting him since his return from Tokyo.  
  
"Kunzite, I don't know what you did, but you have nearly destroyed the energy   
streams that I have acquired." She accused him.  
  
"What do you mean my queen?" he humbly asked  
  
"Somehow shortly after your ultimatum to Sailor Moon, a massive surge of gold   
energy swept across the planet. As a result, the energy streams that I have collected   
were disrupted. Thankfully, they are still providing sufficient energy to awaken   
Metalia. However we can no longer afford to waste energy fighting Sailor Moon to   
retrieve the Ginzuishou."  
  
Later as Kunzite left Beryl's throne room, the bit about the gold energy kept coming   
back to his mind. He knew it to be important somehow, but the specifics seemed to be   
just out of his grasp. Gold energy is the energy that gives rise to the natural manna   
of the earth, which is associated with strong vibrant, though short-lived, life.   
Endymion should be able to control it, but that was not a spell. It was something else;   
something has changed with the planet. And why do I have the feeling that it has   
something to do with the unease that I am feeling. It is as if something is not quite   
whole with me anymore.  
  
But it matters not, as soon Metalia will be alive and she will crush those Senshi.   
Queen Serenity may have had the power to defeat Metalia herself, but the little   
princess does not have anywhere near that power.  
  
********  
  
In a space that had no dimensions while having every dimension at the same time,   
existed a being, a being that had been in this prison for nearly eternity. At one time, it   
was what some called female, but that was long ago, before the power it had gathered   
made those distinctions meaningless. It was the loser of a power struggle, banished to   
a real life version of Hades. And so, here it remained trapped in the very fabric of the   
megaverse. Once before a being had found it and released it, allowing it to seek   
revenge on the one whose blood had been responsible for her banishment.  
  
But, as powerful as it was, it was no match for the power of its opponent, who by   
sacrificing her own life had sent her back to this prison. But, the prison of her   
worshipers was not perfect and they had escaped. Now, they were ready to bring her   
back, and she would finally be able to gather the power she deserved and kill the   
others who were responsible by blood.  
  
The initial spells connecting her to the earth had already been cast. The first of those   
spells just let her converse with her "master," a term that she found very amusing. But   
lately the summoner had begun to send her energy to feed off of, preparing her for the   
traversal and the anchoring spells to open the portal were beginning to be cast. The   
one thing she had to give her summoner credit for, Beryl did know how to cast the   
spells without alerting anyone else. That being the reason why they had been able to   
surprise the people of the Silver Millennium, any other caster would have alerted the   
Sailor Soldiers, and she would have had to face them upon crossing into this world, a   
battle that she probably would have lost.  
  
To say she was pleased with the progress so far, would have been an understatement.   
She was a patient being and the internal politics of the Dark Kingdom did not interest   
her, only the accumulation of energy for the transfer. And, what Beryl did not realize   
was that even those failed missions had helped to prepare the earth, meaning that less   
energy would be required. And, then recently something had happened, and she could   
feel herself being quickly drawn to the planet. Which is why she was not upset at all   
when the Ginzuishou fell into the hands of Princess Serenity. The girl's mother had   
barely defeated her, killing the girl would not be difficult.  
  
An energy wave rushed along her connection to the Earth and through her body.   
Reeling back from the hit she focused her consciousness trying to find out what had   
happened. Sending her senses back down the connection to the Earth, she discovered   
something that made her worried. The energy signature of the Earth had begun to   
change. Someone was trying to unite the power of the planet. This energy wielded by   
the right person could prevent the gateway from being opened. Gathering her energy,   
she summoned Beryl's attention.  
  
********  
Outside of Tokyo  
  
This is getting me nowhere. thought Diana. She had spent most of the day walking   
towards Tokyo; at least she thought she was going the right way. But, her feet were   
getting tired and her tummy growled for some food. She saw up in front of her a   
diner, her mind made up she headed towards it.  
  
Inside the diner, patrons mostly sat on the bar stools watching an old TV showing the   
evening's news. Many of the patrons had been there since earlier that afternoon when   
the news was first broadcast. But had stayed there talking with others of the town and   
travelers about what it meant. The reporter currently was interviewing some people in   
the Juuban district who claimed to have seen this Princess Serenity and her Sailor   
Senshi earlier that day. The camera moved off the reporter for a moment to focus in   
on a sketch of what this Princess Serenity might look like from the descriptions of   
these bystanders. The drawing was amazingly detailed and the reporter mentioned that   
the government also agreed that its sources suggested this to be the appearance of   
Serenity as well.  
  
A twinkling of a bell marked the arrival of a new patron. One of the waitresses looked   
up and then moved toward the door to welcome the visitor. As she walked toward the   
guest, she wondered where the child's parents were. "Can I help you miss?" she asked  
  
The girl looked up unsure of how to respond. She was sure of what she wanted, but   
unsure if she really should be doing this. At any moment, she might bolt to the door   
and disappear out into the evening. However, as she looked up, the waitress caught   
site of the crescent moon on her forehead.  
  
Kami-sama she's one of them. "Here come on in child, you look like you could use   
something to eat and some rest." The waitress said. As she began to lead the girl to a   
seat, she added "My name is Sasami, if I may ask, what is your name?"  
  
"Diana." The girl replied.  
  
"Diana, that's a sweet name. From that crescent moon on your forehead I assume you   
must be associated with Princess Serenity."  
  
The last line caused Diana to stumble in shock "Nani-ka! What did you say?" she   
asked unsure of her hearing.  
  
"Why Princess Serenity has the same crescent moon on her forehead." Still seeing the   
child confused, she continued, "The news all evening has been about Princess   
Serenity and her Sailor Senshi. Here take a seat I will get you some food." With that,   
the waitress disappeared into the back.  
  
********  
  
Beryl knelt alone in front of an altar. Torches lined the room and a deep red mystical   
energy ran along the floor in intricate patterns. Before her, she could feel the presence   
of Metalia begin to take form, far more solid now than ever before. The energy   
patterns on the floor flared brightly as a strong wind swept outward from the altar,   
indicating the opening of the partial gateway. Looking up, Beryl looked into the mass   
of energy that was Metalia.  
  
"Queen Metalia, you wished to speak to me?" Beryl asked.  
  
"It is time. The Earth has begun to awake, we cannot let it give birth to its own Sailor   
Senshi, we must move now. Begin your spells. The Senshi will arrive before you can   
finish them, Kunzite and your youma will act as a distraction."  
  
Beryl smiled as she realized her aspirations were quickly approaching reality, even   
with the failures of her pathetic generals. "But what about the Ginzuishou?" she   
asked.  
  
"Do not worry about that crystal, it matters not to me. I will pluck it from the hands of   
Serenity and give it to you." Metalia replied, and then smiled internally as she saw   
Beryl perk up with that. What a fool, does she not realize that her very soul will be   
destroyed be handling that crystal? She tells her general not to handle it himself, what   
makes her think that she can control its magic, not even I can safely handle it. I can   
carry it or destroy it, but to handle it would be my death.  
  
Beryl from where she knelt sent Kunzite a mental command informing him of the   
change in plans and then began casting the spells, the spells that would fully open the   
portal. As she began each spell, she grabbed one of her manna streams and connected   
it to the spell. Very quickly, the energy radiating from the room had reached a   
blinding level of darkness and the Earth and the solar system began to shudder in   
response.  
  
********  
A little earlier  
  
"Usako." called Mamoru as he spotted his love. She quickly changed directions to   
plow into him for a kiss, with her friends not far behind. After satisfying her demands   
for kisses, he asked the questions that had been on his mind. "Usako did you feel   
anything strange today?"  
  
"Not really." she replied, but then remembered her transformation to her princess   
form and thought that might be what he was referring to. "I did take my princess form   
a bit."  
  
"I know I felt that, but before that I felt a strange energy, which caused me to take my   
form as Endymion."  
  
"I wonder." Replied Ami as she quickly pulled out her computer, which Usagi had   
given back to her a little while earlier. Everyone turned to look at Ami, awaiting her   
answer. "Thought so, Mamoru like each of us gets his powers from his planet.   
However, till now the Earth has essentially been dormant, but now it is swarming in   
energy. Hmm so is the Moon, I don't suppose" the last bit she mumbled to herself, but   
was heard by the others and caused Usagi to blush heavily. "As to why you took your   
prince form, you were just responding the sudden increase in energy that flowed into   
you from the planet when it awoke."  
  
Mamoru suddenly collapsed to the ground, as an urgent beeping noise from the   
computer interrupted the conversation. "Mamo-chan what's wrong?" cried Usagi,   
barely avoiding becoming hysterical. Beside him, ChibiUsa also knelt down in pain,   
not as much as her father, but still feeling it. "Ami-chan what is happening to them?"   
asked Usagi.  
  
Ami for her part was rapidly typing away at the computer. In her fast paced typing she   
suddenly whipped out her hand and henshined into Mercury only missing a few beats   
in her typing. She slowly spun around with her visor deployed no longer typing.   
"Shimatta, it has begun."  
  
By this time, Mamoru had been able to return to his knees and ChibiUsa had fully   
recovered. "They have begun opening the portal for Metalia, haven't they?" he asked.  
  
"Yes, the spells have been cast. There is now a massive dark energy dome in the artic.   
The spell being used is fairly crude and it is affecting everything around it. The whole   
solar system is reverberating in pain, in particular the Earth."  
  
"Well guess it is time for us to go pay them a visit." supplied Makoto.  
  
"Sorry can't do that yet, the energy readings are so massive that I have not been able   
to localize the zero-point yet. It will take another few hours at least." Replied Ami.  
  
"In that case lets each go home and get some rest and dinner first. We will meet back   
at the shrine at 8:30." Stated Usagi  
  
"Hai" they all replied and then broke up.  
  
********  
  
The soft music of a violin filled a house with its music. The music drifted its way past   
its two listeners washing them its warmth. With a sudden abruptness it stopped and its   
creator shivered suddenly very cold. "The seas, something is happening." Declared   
Michiru to her audience.  
  
Haruka quickly stood up and went to wrap up the freezing Michiru. "Are you sure…"   
she began to ask, but stopped as a bright violet light flashed across the room.  
  
The flash departed revealing an orb, which contained a furious storm of energy. As   
Setsuna stood in front of it, a staff shaped like a key formed in her hand. The orb   
quickly settled itself down on the staff, and as it did so, violet energy shot out of the   
staff and ran along Setsuna's arm to caress her body. As it retreated it left Sailor Pluto   
behind.  
  
Pluto pulled up her staff swinging it around before planting it down on the ground and   
looking into the orb, seeing the confirmation of what she had suspected. And knew   
her time here was short; she could already feel the pulling of the gate seeking its   
guardian. "It has begun. Go now and join the princess, tonight the war will be won or   
lost." As she felt herself being pulled faster and faster away from this time, she added,   
"I can not participate in this battle, the gate must be protected. I can not fight its   
command." And with that, her grip on linear time was lost and she found herself   
standing in front of the Gate of Spacetime.  
  
With a swing of her staff, she unlocked the gate, laying the stream of time to bear in   
front of her eyes. The mists had yet to resolve into a single future, though a couple of   
paths began to become more visible than the others. Charging her staff she was   
prepared should the timeline go awry, to slam closed the gate for all time in this   
timeline.  
  
********  
Elsewhere  
  
A child sat in her room doing her homework. If any had been in the room with her   
they would have been scared as her body glowed a soft violet while a smile crossed   
her lips. She stood and looked out towards the distance feeling immense energy   
radiating from that direction. Grasping some of that energy with her small hand she   
grinned even more. "Soon." was all she said. With that, she returned to her desk,   
oblivious to what had just happened.  
  
-End chapter 17  
  
Endnotes:  
-Gomen Nasi for taking so long on getting this chapter out. It has actually   
been mostly finished for a couple months now. I had the edited copy sitting on   
my computer for a real long time before getting around to incorporating the   
changes. But don't worry 18 is also finished and should be following this one   
out shortly. Classes just ended this past week, so I had those to deal with,   
initiation for my fraternity this past weekend. But with the semester   
intersession coming up, I should be able to get a fair amount of work done and   
my writing.  
  
-Finally, it has reached this point. This last chapter was pretty hard for me to   
write, being a semi-slow chapter in the midst of many fast paced ones. But   
next time it is the battle at D-point.  
  
-I have come to realize that I may have been a bit too subtle in the scene that   
was supposed to let you know the planet that Urawa's powers were now allied   
with. They are allied with the Planet of Destruction, Saturn.  
  
-The two poor folks who were the unfortunate sufferers of the reactivation of   
my Tiger cloning machine are Lady Heartfire and Patch my compadre in   
havoc is Lady Rainbow and all her infinite personalities. This particular   
sequence is a result of a chat I had with the three, which afterwards I thought   
would make a really nifty dream for ChibiUsa or maybe Hotaru.  
  
-Oh for anyone trying to visit my site, I apologize for the broken links. Just  
discovered that apparantly at some point geocities had changed to a case sensitive  
web server. Hence all the links to the story directory no longer worked. Sorry   
about that, but it is now mostly fixed.  
  
  
  



	18. Into the Fire

The Fragility of Time  
Chapter 18: "Into the Fire"  
Author: etj4Eagle  
Email: etj4Eagle@yahoo.com  
http://www.geocities.com/etj4eagle  
Lasted Edited: 12/6/00  
  
Disclaimer: A reminder I own none of the characters of this story,   
all rights are owned by others.   
If you distribute the story, do only   
so freely and inform me of where you post it.  
  
_______________________________________  
  
The Sailor Senshi, their princess, her daughter, the Earth Prince,   
and Urawa stood, in front of the Hikawa Shrine. While each attempted   
to put on an air of bravo and confidence, fear of what was to come   
raced through each of them. Looking around each could see the fear in   
their friend's eyes, but they had no regrets of what was to come. The   
delay in finding the exact coordinates of D-point had allowed them to   
spend a few hours with each of their families, each saying things   
that needed to be said in case they never returned. Of course, only   
Usagi's family knew the true reason for the sudden love, though   
Grandpa Hino had an inkling of what was to befall his daughter, from   
his own meditations with the Great Fire. For Usagi, she had spent a   
fair portion of that time writing six letters, one to be delivered in   
each of the families in case none of them made it back.  
  
"Minna-san we should be going." announced Ami.  
  
"Hai" the others agreed softly and formed a circle around their two   
passengers, Mamoru and Urawa. With a shout, each of the girls called   
out their transformation phrases, Mamoru shifted into his prince   
form, and Urawa returned to his true form, though deciding to remain   
in the visible for now. Then with a second call of power they were   
gone, beams of energy arching through the sky. From the gate of   
Spacetime, Pluto watched her princess head into battle, a tear   
falling down her cheek over her inability to aid her.  
  
********  
D-point  
  
Arriving, the Senshi found themselves deposited in the bitter cold of   
the artic. They shivered for a moment, not so much because of the   
cold, but because of the evil that permeated the place. Quickly   
getting their bearings, they readjusted their circle such that it now   
included their princesses and ChibiMoon in its center. Deploying her   
visor, Mercury began scanning the area, looking for the site of   
Metalia's portal.  
  
"That way," she said pointing towards a darkness on the horizon. As   
they began walking in that direction, Mercury felt a hand squeeze   
hers; she knew it to be Urawa's and also knew that his battle senses   
would have told him the same tactical information that her visor had   
told her. He would therefore also know the number of youma that faced   
them up ahead, a number so great that at least one of them and   
probably more would fall in their attempts to stop Metalia.  
  
Detecting an energy discharge, Mercury and Urawa swung their heads to   
their left in time to see Kunzite's teleport. "Endymion!" Kunzite   
called, announcing his presence.  
  
Stopping, Endymion turned to regard Kunzite. With a look to his love,   
he stroke a hand across Sailor Moon's face, "Serenity, Usako, I have   
to face Kunzite alone. This battle is internal to my planet. Don't   
worry I will be fine, and remember I will always love you." With   
those final words his fingers lightly stroked Sailor Moon's face, and   
then he turned to face Kunzite and broke formation from the others,   
moving to meet the challenge.  
  
The two men stood facing each other, neither moving initially. "You   
have sold your soul to Silver Millennium and in your lust for   
Serenity you have betrayed your people, selling them into eternal   
bondage. For these acts of treason, you no longer deserve to be the   
prince. And I, as the last remaining guardian of this planet will   
take vengeance in the name of the Earth." Red energies, flung at   
Endymion punctuated the declaration of vengeance in the name of the   
Earth.  
  
Endymion easily parried the two blades with his sword. "Kunzite, open   
your eyes. I have not betrayed my people. It is Beryl; in her jealous   
rage, she has unleashed the evil that is Metalia. And it is Metalia's   
evil has tainted your soul and those of Beryl's other warriors a   
thousand years ago."  
  
"You lie!" responded Kunzite as he pressed the attack even stronger,   
forcing Endymion to take a step back.  
  
********  
  
Watching her love fight one of his former friends, Serenity said a   
silent prayer for his safety and Kunzite's soul. But, all too soon   
Venus had them on the move again, leaving Endymion behind and heading   
towards the battle ahead. As they walked Mercury kept watch for   
traps, frowning slightly she noticed many of the energy signatures   
disappear. Realizing what was about to happen, she yelled out, "Hit   
the deck!"  
  
Very quickly the group flung themselves to the ground, only moments   
before a patch of the ground slightly in front and to their right   
exploded outwards in a blast of energy. The energy blast passed   
through the space they had been occupying only moments before. The   
startled warrior began picking themselves up, a bit stunned by their   
near brush with death. However, before they had gotten much farther   
than their knees, youma began pouring out of the hole in the ground,   
moving to attack the warriors   
  
"World Shaking."  
  
"Supreme Thunder," responded Jupiter and Uranus, the first of the   
warriors back onto their feet. Their attacks were soon followed by   
attacks from the others, as they too stood back up. Some of the youma   
took multiple hits to fell, others fell only when Sailor Moon's tiara   
sliced them, and still others fell under only the lightest of   
attacks. Something about the ease of dispatching those youma troubled   
Mercury. Turning her attention to them, and activating her computer,   
she scanned them. Illusions, those are only illusions. But what can   
be causing the illusions?  
  
"ChibiUsa-chan!" cried Sailor Moon as she saw a youma holding   
ChibiUsa by her neck. Mercury looked at her leader and then looking   
ahead to where Sailor Moon was dashing with all her might and saw   
ChibiUsa. Why is ChibiUsa not in her Senshi form? she thought. And   
then looking more closely at her visor's readings, Wait a moment   
that isn't ChibiUsa, it is a youma Mercury realized as her visor   
reveled the ChibiUsa to be a youma. Glancing back at where Sailor   
Moon had begun her dash, she noticed ChibiMoon not too far distant   
from there.  
  
Moving quickly, Mercury quickly covered the distance to "ChibiUsa" as   
well. As she ran she analyzed her options, her best strategy would be   
to unleash a Shine Aqua Illusion attack. However, Usagi did not yet   
know about the illusion, eliminating that option. Only one option   
remained with the time she had left, and so with one last leap   
Mercury reached the two youma and grabbed the fake ChibiUsa in her   
arms.  
  
As the two rolled on the ground, "ChibiUsa" shifted into its true   
form, a youma. The youma quickly wrapped its arms around Mercury and   
with a release of dark energy, Mercury cried out in pain.  
  
"ChibiUsa's" shift had caused Sailor Moon to come up short. Then her   
friend's sacrifice caused her to softly cry out "Ami-chan!" with a   
couple of tears.  
  
As Sailor Moon watched Ami's torture, she began to jog over to her   
friend. Pulling off her tiara she looked for a way to throw it   
without hurting her friend. But before she could find an opening, an   
explosion ripped across the plain of ice and the situation resolved   
itself. As the shockwave from the blast blew across the plain, Usagi   
shielded herself from flying youma parts. The explosion had tossed   
the blue haired Senshi into the sky, while a shadowy figure with a   
brightly glowing golden crescent moon stood in the epicenter.   
Changing her course, Usagi moved to catch her friend as she fell back   
to the earth.  
  
********  
  
The luck of the other Senshi ran equally poor in their fights with   
the youma. While they were not the targets of the directed illusions,   
they still had to contend with the duplicate youma illusions. The   
illusions fell quickly to any attack, but they still required time,   
focus and energy to be destroyed. Consequently the Senshi, except for   
Mercury, unable to tell the real threats from the illusions were   
quickly finding themselves overwhelmed by the shear number of   
threats.  
  
Uranus and Neptune fought side by side to one part of the battle,   
while Venus and Jupiter remained standing by ChibiMoon, protecting   
her. Mars had taken off after her Odango-Atama when Usagi had been   
fooled by the illusion. Turning her head scanning the area, Venus   
glimpsed a slight motion out of the corner of her eye. Moving on   
instinct, she jumped to place herself between the movement and   
ChibiMoon. The object she moved to intercept was located behind her;   
consequently, she spun as she leapt to bring her face to face with   
it. However, before she had finished the spin, something impacted her   
back, sending her to the ground.  
  
Venus tried to stand, but found that her legs no longer seemed to   
work. The next sense her fuzzy mind processed was that of a child's   
terrified scream. A scream she shortly recognized to be ChibiMoon's,   
Venus realized that she must now be lying at the feet of ChibiMoon.   
As she struggled to bring her vision into focus she felt the tell   
tale tingly of her skin that accompanied one of Jupiter's thunder   
blots, which was soon followed by the screams of a dying youma.  
  
Her breathing now labored, Venus's vision finally came into focus.   
Turning her head she saw ChibiMoon and Jupiter standing beside her, a   
large and growing red stain of red on the ice also grabbed her   
attention. She felt a hand, Jupiter's, grasp hers as Jupiter pleaded   
with her not to leave them. Minako wished that she could do as Makoto   
instructed however, she could already feel the energy of her body   
begin to fade away. Beside her on the spiritual plane lay the   
remnants of her Sailor Crystal. Its energy had been released and was   
now diffusing out in the environment and back into the megaverse.   
Venus could now see those shiny fragments of her Star Seed as her   
awareness faded away. Then with a final gasp, her chest lay still.  
  
Giving a loud yell of pain, Jupiter summoned all her energy and   
unleashed a tremendous amount of raw energy. As the energy left her   
hands, it shared in her rage and formed into a dragon. The semi-  
sentient Thunder Dragon born of Makoto's rage and sorrow flapped its   
wings and dove into the nearest group of youma, giving a battle cry   
of its own. Sizzling and the sounds of a wild beast followed, and   
soon the sent of charred flesh could be smelled on the wind. The   
smell lasted for a few minutes, while the youma slowly turned into   
dust and blew away.  
  
********  
  
Jupiter's cry grabbed Uranus attention and she looked over from the   
youma she was battling. Seeing Venus's dead body she cried out "No!"   
While she had not gotten to know the Guardian Senshi that well in   
this life, she still had half memories of them from the Silver   
Millennium. Her momentary distraction from looking Venus's dead body   
was all that the youma she was battling needed. The next thing she   
knew, she was flying through the air and then coming to a rough stop   
on the ground.   
  
Angered at being caught off guard she gritted her teeth against the   
pain and stood back up. Looking down she noticed the whole right side   
of her uniform was torn away and that the skin below it was blackened   
from the blast. Attempting to take a step forward, she collapsed back   
down to the ground from the pain, useless to the others. Hearing a   
noise, she looked up and saw that creature standing over her,   
preparing to finish the job. She closed her eyes and awaited the   
final blow.   
  
Instead, she heard "Deep Submerge" and the demon was blasted apart.   
Looking up she saw Neptune. Neptune quickly closed the distance to   
her love. "Haruka how badly are you hurt?" she asked  
  
"Bad, I can't fight anymore." She replied, knowing what Neptune was   
thinking she added "Don't worry about me love, you need to protect   
the princess. Now go." She commanded the reluctant Neptune.  
  
********  
  
Usagi watched over where she had laid Mercury on the ground, wishing   
that there was some way to take her friends injuries into herself.   
Feeling a familiar, but foreboding energy sweep through her, she   
looked up. "Minako, no!" she softly cried, as she placed the energy.   
Having given her cry, her head collapsed down onto Ami, as sorrow   
racked her body for her departed friend.  
  
"Usagi, don't worry about us. We are making this sacrifice because we   
love you, not because we have to. You have to go on and defeat Beryl   
and prevent her from releasing Metalia." Mars said trying to   
encourage her leader. Mars had known before they had even left that   
she would not be coming back from this mission, that none of the   
Guardians were. The Great Fire had told her that, but she had kept   
that to herself. They did not have a choice, and to tell Usagi would   
only have meant that she would feel even more guilt as each of the   
Senshi died. As Rei tried to comfort Usagi, she wrapped an arm around   
her best friend and pulled Usagi into her own chest.  
  
After a few moments, Rei was able to get Usagi's tears back under   
control, the youma thankfully had for the moment been leaving the   
three of them alone, focusing their attention on the other Senshi. A   
weak voice caught their attention, "They are using illusions, got to   
stop them." Mercury mumbled as she began to pick herself up.  
  
"Ami, you are in no shape to go fight!" exclaimed Usagi.  
  
"No choice princess, only me and Ryo-kun can stop these illusions.   
Unless we do so, more of us will fall." During Mercury's explanation,   
Urawa had moved up beside his love, and taking her hand the two of   
them disappeared back into the battlefield.  
  
Watching Mercury walk away, Usagi hung her head in defeat. Sorrow   
filled Mars's soul as well over Ami-chan's sacrifice, lending   
strength to her best friend, she hugged Usagi even tighter.   
  
The sound of crunching snow brought the arrival of Jupiter carrying   
ChibiMoon. Seeing her daughter, Usagi perked up at least for the   
moment now that she had someone whom needed her strength. Taking   
ChibiUsa from Jupiter, Usagi went about trying to reassure her   
daughter. As Jupiter gave up the child, she caught Mars's eye and   
silently asked a question. The shake of Mars's head confirmed her   
fear; looking out over the snow, she prepared herself for the next   
youma to arrive.  
  
********  
The realm of the Gate of Spacetime  
  
Pluto stood watching the battle. She saw Venus's sacrifice, the   
destruction of her Sailor Crystal and her subsequent death. Death for   
any being comes when their Star Seed is crushed, releasing its   
energy, the soul. A Sailor Crystal being lit by the light of a planet   
is much harder to destroy, but it too can be destroyed. After being   
released, a soul will slowly diffuse through the physical plane into   
the fabric of the universe itself; thereby rejoining with the   
fundamental energy that gives rise to new life.  
  
Venus's soul no longer anchored by its Star Seed, now drifted lost   
along the battlefield. Pluto with her powers could interact with the   
lost soul; awaken it from the semi-conscious state it now drifted in.   
But the flow of time was too fragile at this point for her to risk   
any interference. Instead, she watched the condemned soul who was   
soon to be one of many just drift. Feeling another energy begin to   
join that of Venus, Pluto saw Uranus fall to the ground. For the   
moment Uranus still lived, but not for long, her Sailor Crystal was   
slowly crumbling.   
  
Shedding a tear for the sacrifices of her sisters, Pluto shifted her   
gaze till it was focused on her future queen. From the Gate of   
Spacetime, Pluto looked more closely at her queen, to confirm   
suspicions that she held. As she looked at her queen, she could feel   
Usagi's energy, and then grasping the time-strands connected to   
Princess Serenity she gasped at what she saw. She had already   
surmised a stronger bonding of the Ginzuishou with Serenity at this   
point in time this time around, however, even with that, she was not   
prepared with how strongly Serenity had already bonded. The energy of   
the Ginzuishou was nearly fully weaved into Serenity's soul; they   
were now almost one. Princess Serenity was now far more power than   
any previous ruler of the Silver Millennium, and already her power   
was rivaling that of Sailor Galaxia's  
  
While Serenity and the Ginzuishou were destined to bond, it was a   
criterion for what was to come, a bonding of this level was not   
supposed to happen for many years. Serenity was rapidly becoming far   
stronger than even her previous future Crystal Tokyo Monarch self.   
Pluto's staff clanged to the ground as the gate showed her a very   
possible future that had now been created. No longer is the Messiah   
of Silence a threat, but the Messiah of Light. If Serenity fully   
awakens too soon, the world while it will reach a state of Utopia, it   
will be too perfect and will quickly shatter along with the rest of   
the universe to be utterly destroyed.  
  
Picking up her staff, Pluto wondered how she was going to complete   
her mission now. Of the Sailor Senshi, only she knew of their true   
mission. A secret so great that not even the monarchs of the Silver   
Millennium were ever given a hint of it. Only the Guardian of   
Spacetime could ever know the true reason why this planet had Sailor   
Senshi so different from the rest of the galaxy.  
  
Unlike the others, the planets of this system each were associated   
with one of the elemental magics, including that of death/rebirth and   
spacetime. Great scholars across the galaxy had debated this issue,   
especially why this backwater planet was home to the Guardian of   
Spacetime. Many had wondered why this system was entrusted with the   
keeping of spacetime. Of all, only Sailor Galaxia had an inkling to   
the truth. Being the Sailor Senshi of the galaxy, she knew that the   
Sol system was destined to give birth to an extremely powerful Sailor   
Crystal, but that was all she knew. Thankfully for the sake of the   
final acts of an ancient war to be played out in a few years, Galaxia   
did not know anything more.  
  
Pluto did not swear her loyalty to the Silver Millennium. For her   
duty, the Moon Kingdom could rule as a strong empire or it could be   
ruthlessly crushed and its people placed in bondage. Her only   
interest in the kingdom being to ensure that the line of Serenity   
survived unbroken to the current princess, and for that princess then   
to face trial by fire. This princess, born through the magic of the   
Ginzuishou was not just of the moon, but also of the entire Cosmos   
itself. When a triad of other powers combined with her own, she would   
awaken to her true form, not of Sailor Moon, but of Sailor Cosmos.  
  
The awakening of Sailor Cosmos was her sworn duty, given to her by   
the universe itself when it choose her to guard the Gate of Spacetime   
all those timelines ago. She herself no longer existed in any of   
these timelines; once she accepted the position, time changed such   
that she was never born. Looking at the Senshi joining Venus in death   
she knew as cruel as it sounded, they were expendable as well.   
Following its guardian Senshi's death, a planet will always give   
birth to a new princess. For each of the fallen Sailor Senshi, a new   
soldier would stand to take their place once their planet was again   
inhabited. But if Princess Serenity were to die, the cosmos would   
never again be able to give birth to its princess. Though Saturn's   
Death Reborn Revolution did provide a last chance, by destroying   
everything followed by rebirth, it could potentially capture   
Serenity's soul allowing it to be reborn. Failing that, the attack   
would turn unstoppable and destroy the universe, ending the timeline.  
  
Turning her attention to another part of the battle, Pluto saw   
Endymion battling Kunzite. Currently they appeared evenly matched,   
but she knew that to only to be illusionary. It was impossible for   
Kunzite to win, as long as he retained some of Earth's elemental   
power he could never kill Endymion, no matter how hard he tried. And   
to revoke that power now would kill Kunzite.  
  
Changing her view once again, she looked at the whole planet. The   
dark energy now ran freely along the planet and through the solar   
system as well, she noted. Massive sun spots had begun to appear as   
earth quakes and severe weather racked the Earth. Though even with   
all that, Earth's energy levels continued to climb, and the planet   
began to glow with a golden light, visible from space.  
  
********  
  
Mercury and Urawa moved around the side of the enemy forces to the   
rear where her visor indicated the illusions were being generated.   
With the youma being simple-minded creatures, they, for the most   
part, did not take notice of the two. A few nearby youma did move to   
intercept them, but between Mercury's Shine Aqua Illusions and   
Urawa's melee attacks they did not have any trouble dispatching them.   
  
As they walked, Urawa suddenly felt an unease and pulled Mercury to a   
stop. Scanning the area he suddenly got images of Ami being brutally   
ripped apart. Quickly acting, he grabbed his love and dove to the   
ground while at the same time unleashing a blast of a black-violet   
energy in the space they had just occupied. As they hit the snow, a   
previously invisible youma screamed in pain.  
  
Picking themselves up they saw that it was not alone. Arrayed around   
them like a triangle were the other two, and the first one was   
already beginning to pick itself back up as well. Turning towards the   
one nearest her, Mercury unleashed an attack, while Urawa attempted   
to hold off the other one. A blast from the now recovered third youma   
sent the two of them back into the ground. Standing up again   
Mercury's visor began flashing. Looking at the readouts Ami pointed   
toward the youma Urawa had been fighting. "That one on the right,   
with the gem in its forehead is the cause" she called out to Urawa.  
  
Urawa nodded his head and vanished as he phased invisible. "Don't   
worry about me," he whispered as he moved to his target. Standing her   
ground, she flung another blast of super chilled water at the two   
other youma who now stood near each other. Her attack succeeded in   
wounding one of them, but the other youma quickly responded with an   
attack of its own, which flung her light frame a couple hundred feet   
away. Raising her head, she saw Urawa appear beside the illusion   
creating youma, and then saw his body begin to glow a very dark   
violet, which ended in a black glow at its edges. Wait that's   
strange, his crescent moon seems to be changing to another symbol,   
can't make it out from here. she thought. Having finished charging   
his body, Urawa flung himself at the creature. The primal energy of   
destruction coursed up and down his body and upon impacting his   
target flowed into the youma. At such high levels it proved instantly   
lethal and obliterated the youma, not even dust remained. Spent from   
the attack and unable to draw any more magic for the time, Urawa   
slumped to the ground.  
  
Ami saw her love in his weakened state and the two remaining youma   
move in for the kill. Her desire to protect him providing her   
strength, she got back up on her feet and with a leap placed herself   
between them and her love. Drawing power as never before from her   
planet, the fresh water manna of Mercury resolved itself into a blast   
of super chilled water. Hitting the youma, the demon became enveloped   
in ice and then was nothing more than dust.  
  
Turning her attention to the other creature, she prepared to unleash   
a similar attack. However, its grin caused her to pause, which was   
all the time it needed. A shockwave radiated outward from where its   
remains now lay and picked up Mercury and Urawa throwing them a   
distance away as the heat burned across their body. Landing beside   
each other, Ami grabbed Urawa's arm and pulled him against her body   
as the two of them felt their world's go black. At least we   
eliminated their ability to generate those illusions. were her final   
thoughts. And then once again two more Star Seeds were destroyed and   
the body's energy now diffused out into the environment.  
  
********  
  
As the illusions vanished, the youma pulled back unsure of how to   
proceed. Taking a moment to rest the Senshi did not pursue. The break   
in attacks also provided Neptune with an opportunity to join the   
group. Sailor Moon looked over her surviving forces; only Jupiter,   
Mars and Neptune still lived. She could also still feel Endymion's   
energy, meaning that thankfully he was alive. His death in addition   
to those of her friend's would have been too much for her to bear,   
but with him still living she somehow found the energy to take one   
step and then another forward.  
  
As she began marching towards the enemy's strong hold, memories of   
time spent with her now departed friends came back to her and her   
determination firmed. With a flick of the wrist, her scepter was out   
and ready for use. ChibiMoon walked next to her mother scared out of   
her wits from the death of the three Senshi and Urawa. But, she knew   
that she would not have been able to bear being left behind while her   
mother went out to battle. So, she too tried to put the death behind   
her and instead to borrow some of her mother's strength to face the   
enemy in front of them.  
  
"Moon Princess Halatation." Sailor Moon called out, unleashing a   
sweeping arc of her magic.   
  
The golden energy turned an array of youma in front of them into   
dust. Unfortunately, two more of the youma that had killed the other   
Senshi hovered off to the sides. Diving out of the skies like bats   
out of hell, they took the Senshi by surprise, each carrying away a   
victim: Jupiter and Neptune.  
  
Reacting quickly, Mars began casting her Burning Mandela attack.   
Sensing the impending attack the youma ceased their flight and   
instead rotated such that they now held their captives in front of   
their bodies as shields. Cursing, Mars dropped her hands, knowing   
that any attack she launched would just hit her friends instead of   
the demons.   
  
From where they hung in the sky Jupiter and Neptune knew the   
conundrum that faced their friends. Saying a final prayer for her   
princess, Jupiter raised her lightning rod while Neptune began   
gathering her element. Catching each other's eyes, they let their   
attacks fly towards one and another. As they met a large flash of   
light followed by a thunderclap rang out in the sky, momentarily   
blinding those on the ground. When the glare had passed, two soldiers   
with large electrical burns lay motionless on the ground in a pile of   
dust.  
  
"Kami-sama" gasped Mars as she realized what had happened. The two   
had unleashed the full force of their attacks at the same time at   
each other. The salt water of Neptune's attack provided the perfect   
electric conductor to fry the youma, and it turned them instantly to   
dust. Unfortunately after using that much energy, they did not have   
sufficient reserves to withstand the point blank attack either, and   
their Sailor Crystals were shattered, leaving two more dead bodies on   
the artic ice.  
  
Sailor Moon collapsed to her knees as she saw the sight of the dead   
Makoto and Michiru. "Mako-chan, Michiru-san," she silently sobbed.   
ChibiUsa clung tightly to her mother, tears in her eyes as well. In   
her future, the Senshi were alive, but now only Mars was left alive,   
and Pu at the gate. The future had changed, it was all gone, and the   
life she knew wiped out and with it any assurance of her mother's   
safety. That if her mother died, she would cease to exist never   
really crossed the little girls mind; instead, she was focused solely   
on her mother's welfare.  
  
"Sailor Moon get up, you can't give up now." Mars said as she tried   
to pull her best friend back up to her legs. She saw the expression   
that was beginning to cross Usagi's face and spoke quickly before   
Usagi thought too much of it "You cannot give up, do not even think   
about giving them the Ginzuishou. What about Naru, or Hotaru-chan? Or   
even your family? They are all depending on you. You are their only   
hope."  
  
Usagi looked up not quite sure she believed what Mars was telling   
her. But, she did not get much chance, for something grabbed Mars's   
attention. Looking at the horizon for a moment, Mars turned back to   
Usagi and said, "It is my turn princess." Getting to her feet she   
began to walk off, though after only taking a few steps she paused   
for a moment and turning back added, "I trust in you, you won't let   
our sacrifice be meaningless." And with that, Mars disappeared into   
the distance. A few minutes later, a heat wave passed over Usagi and   
ChibiUsa announcing the death of Mars.  
  
********  
  
Endymion continued to spar with his former general and good friend,   
Kunzite. The threats and verbal exchanges had ended a while ago, each   
realizing that the other would not budge. Kunzite currently held the   
advantage, having given Endymion a couple of minor wounds, and with   
each attack was forcing Endymion backwards.  
  
How can I fight one of my own generals? I cannot kill him, but if I   
don't the Earth will fall to the darkness. Reaching down into his   
body he tried to find the will to fight Kunzite. As he reached, he   
suddenly felt the same energy he had felt the other day, the golden   
energy of the earth. As he exerted control over the energy that was   
rightfully his, he felt the Earth begin to respond. Through his   
Sailor Crystal, he could draw upon the energy that was giving the   
Earth its golden glow.  
  
As the energy flowed into his body, he also felt a change occur in   
the energy field, almost as if something had been disconnected from   
it. Coincidently with the flutter, Kunzite momentarily faltered.   
Subconsciously Endymion knew Kunzite's aura had changed. No longer   
was he one with the Earth. Drawing himself to full height he   
addressed Kunzite "The Earth has passed judgment on you Kunzite. For   
your actions your position as one of its elemental avatars and   
protectors has been revoked."   
  
Looking up at his former prince, Kunzite knew he had lost. However,   
he was bewildered over the outcome, How is this possible, the Earth   
has rejected me?! And, instead it has sided with that traitor.   
Trying for one last shot Kunzite attempted to draw upon the energy of   
the Dark Kingdom. Pulling in what he could he erected a shield.  
  
"My friend I wish there was another way, but your soul is too stained   
by the evil of Metalia." Said Endymion as he drew his sword. In   
preparation for the strike the energy he had accumulated flowed down   
out of his body, down his arm and into his sword, causing it to glow   
with a bright golden light. A quick swing and the sword easily passed   
through Kunzite's shield, which was unable to withstand the mighty   
onslaught of the Earth's vengeance.   
  
Kunzite saw his shield collapsed and then he was on the ground with   
the sword imbedded in his chest. As it reached it maximum   
penetration, the golden energy rushed down into his body, consuming   
the blackness wherever it encountered it. For the first time in over   
a millennia, he began to feel his mind fully awake as Metalia's magic   
was driven from his body. Even if the sword wound had not been fatal,   
Metalia's magic had changed his body too much for him to survive   
after it was driven from him. In any case he did not care, as he was   
finally free again.   
  
Now with the evil driven from his body, he could see the recent   
events for what they truly were. The Earth was correct in rejecting   
him. What he felt yesterday was the rejection of his authority as   
they once again accepted Endymion as their prince. With their   
rejection, he had begun to loose some of his Earth powers. And with   
Endymion's declaration just now, the final string had been snapped   
and he had lost all of his powers. But, being stabbed by Endymion's   
sword, which swarmed with Earth's energy, had at least saved him from   
eternal damnation.  
  
Endymion saw the expression change on his former friend and knew   
Kunzite was no longer under Metalia's spell. He knelt down next to   
his friend, unsure of what to say. "Endymion don't grieve for me, I   
betrayed you and our people. This was the best I could hope for; at   
least now, my spirit is free from damnation. Our magics have finally   
been released back into the earth. When they are pooled together   
again you will once again truly have access to the power of the   
earth."   
  
"Kunzite," Endymion called out, holding the general's hand. But, all   
too soon, Kunzite became still. Endymion took one last look at his   
friend, closing the man's eyes he began to trudge over to where he   
felt his love's presence. Behind him, Kunzite's body blew away as a   
mixture of golden dust and rose petals on the wind.  
  
********  
  
Usagi lay on the ground down on her knees, unsure if she still had   
the ability to carry on. She clutched her terrified daughter to her   
chest. Since Mars's defeat the plain had gone quiet, no more youma   
came her way. While she did not doubt that Mars took many of them   
with her, she knew that still some must have remained. However, Beryl   
wanted to kill her herself, and so Usagi knew she would face no more   
youma. They had only been here to kill of her friends and dishearten   
her.  
  
Feeling a presence behind her, she looked up and saw Endymion.   
Endymion looked down at his love and saw the sorrow in her eyes. As   
he did, he felt his body both tire and strengthen at the same time.   
Looking at his body he saw that he had changed to his Tuxedo-kamen   
form, guess this is more appropriate for this part. he thought.  
  
Looking up into her love's eyes see found once again the energy to   
continue. Climbing to her feet, she placed ChibiMoon on the ground as   
Endymion wrapped an arm around her waist. Then with a deep breath,   
they set out towards Beryl, knowing that they themselves would   
probably not survive either.  
  
********  
  
So that little bitch thinks she can defeat me. Well I will just have   
to show her who the master is, and with her death that spell she cast   
on Endymion will be broken and he will be mine. Inwardly Beryl   
smiled, as things had gone just as she had planned, the other Senshi   
were dead, Endymion still lived and she would be able to kill   
Serenity herself. Though she figured, she would start with that   
child. Well time to get things underway. With that thought Beryl   
released a teleportation spell to bring Serenity and the other two to   
her.  
  
********  
  
Usagi, ChibiUsa and Mamoru walked towards what they new to be the   
heart of the dark kingdom's base. Ahead of them now lay a large rock   
outcropping, which radiated immense amounts of dark energy. As she   
walked closer Usagi felt the evil and hate making her feel cold, but   
she would not pay it any attention. Her friends had gotten her this   
far; it was now up to her to ensure that another planet did not fall   
prey to the destruction Metalia brought with her. She would ensure   
that the world of the future was a safe one in which her daughter   
could grow up without fear.  
  
Feeling something amiss, she paused in her march forward and looked   
up at her destination. She could not make it out at first, but then a   
rapidly moving ball of red energy became apparent. Acting on instinct   
she spun, pulled ChibiUsa to her chest and dropped to the ground such   
that she covered her daughter's body. Only moments after hitting the   
snow, she felt the impact of the energy sphere and cried out in pain   
before darkness over took her.  
  
********  
  
ChibiUsa quickly found herself on the ground with her mother on top   
of her. However, before she could ask Usagi what was going on, she   
heard Usagi cry out in pain and then she no longer felt the snow and   
ice under her feet and instead felt a cold hard surface. Usagi   
remained draped over her body and she realized that her mother had   
passed out. Carefully she untangled herself from her mother's   
protective embrace to she where she was.  
  
What she saw was a large cavern, the dark energies were so strong   
here that she felt herself drowning in them. Looking back at her   
mother, she saw her to be slightly battered and burned from the   
teleport, but to otherwise be fine. Turning a bit she saw her father   
laying a distance from Usagi also out, but not as badly hurt. Beside   
him was a strange woman, who surprising was apparently seeing if he   
was hurt.  
  
********  
  
With the arrival of her guests, Beryl moved to check on Endymion. "My   
love, soon you will be free of that Moon brat's spell. She may have   
tricked you into siring a child of hers, but I forgive you. Together   
we will rule this world. However, the only way to break the spell is   
to kill her. So forgive me, but I am forced to place you in this   
stasis field till I have my revenge on her and her spawn. Then we can   
be together again forever.  
  
Having cast the spell, Beryl stood up and turned towards her   
adversary, the woman who had stolen the one she loved: Princess   
Serenity. That bastard child lay against Serenity begging her mother   
to awaken. Moving quickly, Beryl grabbed the child by her neck and   
threw her against one of the far walls. "I will take care of you   
later. But for now you can watch your mother suffer."  
  
Having said that, Beryl turned back to Serenity who was now getting   
to her feet. With a swing of her hand, she slapped Sailor Moon across   
the face and knocked her back down. "Who said you could get up? You   
have stolen the one I desired, and you will die for that!"  
  
Sailor Moon looked up at Beryl from where she lay on the ground, once   
again she tried to stand, but was blasted back into the ground by an   
energy blast. Screaming in pain, Usagi collapsed back to the ground.   
Beryl quickly moved in at the prone figure and picked her up by her   
neck. Slowly squeezing Usagi's neck Beryl turned such that Usagi was   
now held between her and where ChibiUsa lay on the ground. A smile   
crossed Beryl's lips as she flowed immense amounts of dark energy   
into the little princess's form. Usagi screamed out in utter pain,   
never having felt anything like it before. Her mind wanted to shut   
down from the pain, but it was too intense for even that self-defense   
mechanism. Instead, her body went limp.  
  
From where she lay on the ground, ChibiUsa heard her mother scream   
out in pain yet again. Mustering all her might, she creaked open her   
eyes, and saw a sight that would be sure to terrify her for years to   
come. But, now the only emotion it evoked was rage, rage over the   
pain that the one she loved so much was being forced to face.   
  
Suddenly Small Lady found the strength to stand, the pain totally   
gone. Taking first one step and then a second, she could feel her   
aura burst to light and screamed out "NO!" as she began running   
forward. Running forward, her emotions flowed into the shadow   
Ginzuishou and it too flared to life with the full power of the   
Silver Crystal and its energy washed over her body. She remained in   
her Senshi form, but she now had an aura of untouchablity about her   
as her form sparkled.   
  
Hearing the scream, Beryl moved her arm holding Sailor Moon to look   
and saw the child. Foolish child, guess it is time to deal with her   
now. Tossing Sailor Moon to the ground, she prepared to deal with   
this minor annoyance. However, her confidence quickly turned to   
horror as the spell she cast was simply deflected off of Small Lady.   
  
Approaching Beryl, something happened to Small Lady, which had not   
happened in a while, but was inevitable with the shear amount of   
energy running through her system. Her tiara exploded out in a shower   
of moon dust to reveal the brightly gleaming crescent moon on her   
forehead. At the same time, her body began to glow a bright white and   
as she reached Beryl the energy detonated in an explosive release.   
With Small Lady as its epicenter, a meter diameter column of white   
energy erupted upwards, vaporizing a hole in the ceiling of the   
cavern up to the surface. Beryl, herself, was thrown back against one   
of the walls from the force of the blast. Her energy spent, Small   
Lady collapsed to the ground, as her Senshi form faded out.  
  
Seeing her daughter unconscious on the floor, Usagi found that she   
did indeed still have some energy left. Moving quickly, she was   
beside her daughter on the ground and then had her in her arms.   
Warmth crossed her heart for her daughter's sacrifice, but then dread   
replaced it. Looking up she saw the extremely pissed form of Beryl   
and knew that it ended here now. She no longer had the energy for   
fighting; in the back of her mind, she knew that in exchange for her   
life the Ginzuishou could give her a moment of immense power. But,   
she did not have sufficient energy even for that ultimate sacrifice.   
So instead, she dropped her head, knowing that she had failed her   
friends, family and her daughter. Hugging her daughter closer to her   
body she let herself remember the good times and warm feelings while   
she awaited her death.  
  
Beryl smiled evilly at Sailor Moon's admission of defeat. Finally,   
the nightmare would end and she would have Endymion. Casting a quick   
spell, she created a black crystal sword to cut off Serenity's head   
with. Bringing it back, she began her swing, but that is as far as   
she got, as suddenly her limbs went numb and she fell to the ground.   
With effort she moved her arm and removed a single golden red rose   
from her chest. Looking up she saw Endymion, who had been released   
when ChibiUsa's attack caused her to lose control of her stasis   
spell. And then her world went dark as the golden energy of the earth   
swept through her body destroying the darkness. Ironically, her sworn   
enemy probably would have shown her mercy, but the earth was not   
willing to show mercy and blasted her soul into oblivion.  
  
Returning to his Tuxedo-kamen form, he knelt down by his love.   
Realizing that she was indeed safe Usagi threw herself into Mamoru's   
arms with tears of relief streaming down her face. "Ooh Mamo-chan its   
over, finally its all over." She managed to get out between her sobs.  
  
ChibiUsa who was not really hurt from her recent attack, just drained   
woke up. She was being crushed between her two parents, as Usagi   
still held her tightly to her chest (not that she minded in the   
least, she was just glad that the two were okay).  
  
The two stood and prepared to find a path to leave this base of the   
Dark Kingdom, when a chill went through all three of them.   
"Something's not right," announced Usagi.  
  
********  
  
The being known as Metalia at one point in time had power that would   
rival galactic empires. Yes, there were others with similar power,   
but the balance was even. Then the younger races came, at first none   
of the first ones paid them any attention. But, then some of the   
first ones took an interest in those younger races and had ideas   
about what should or shouldn't be done. Suddenly the peace and   
stability, which had existed for eons was shattered, for suddenly an   
issue polarized the first ones.  
  
On one hand, Galaxia and her followers promoted a path of aiding and   
helping these younger races. And, on the other side was Chaos and its   
servants such as Metalia. For one reason or another Chaos had deemed   
this outlaying system critical to success and had dispatched Metalia   
to take it. The fight had been easy, as the inhabitants of the world   
were very primitive and only a handful of protectors lived on its   
moon. By herself Metalia quickly ravaged the defending Moon forces,   
when a woman stood her ground before her. Metalia still did not know   
what happened but somehow that woman awoke the souls of the other   
eight planets of the system, calling forth their avatars.   
Outnumbered, they forced Metalia to retreat, but then as she tried to   
open a dimensional jump portal to escape that silver haired woman   
blasted the portal with her crystal, turning it into her prison, a   
prison that she lived in for eons more.  
  
A thousand years ago, she was released from that prison by a human   
mage. Finding the mage to be a comrade in arms, they launched a joint   
attack on the Silver Millennium, leveling the thriving planet states,   
and razing the Moon Kingdom itself. But, before she could get her   
revenge the blood descendent of the one who had banished her, she was   
banished again.  
  
But, now she was free once again. She had felt Beryl's death, but the   
final spells had already been cast before this final battle had   
begun. As the world rushed into a point and then exploded outwards   
from her perspective, she found herself standing back on earth. This   
time the blood descendent of Serenity was only a child and would be   
no challenge to kill. Extending her consciousness, she briefly   
touched that of the child and began moving in that direction.  
  
********  
  
"Usako, what is it?" asked Mamoru.  
  
"Metalia, we are too late she is here." Usagi stated simply. The   
other two were about to ask her how she could be so sure when they   
heard Metalia's laughter, and then the demon stood before them.  
  
"Beryl was a fool to let a child such as yourself destroy her. But,   
don't worry little one I won't fail. Finally I will have my vengeance   
on Serenity I for banishing me from this existence." Pausing for a   
moment, she regarded the other two. "You I think I will have to kill,   
I can not let anyone possessing a Sailor Crystal to live, it is my   
mission. You on the other hand," she began while looking even more   
closely at ChibiUsa. "Very interesting, very interesting. I think I   
will let you live. So you are little Princess Serenity's daughter   
from the future, with your power to handle both the Silver and Golden   
Crystals you would make the perfect vessel."  
  
With a sudden movement, Metalia lunged forward to try to grab the   
child. However, her lunge came to an abrupt stop mid-flight as she   
smashed into an energy shield. Reacting even quicker Usagi had thrown   
herself in front of her daughter while the Ginzuishou activated   
protecting both of them. Howling in rage Metalia roared back and   
unleashed dark energy at the shield. Usagi maintained her shield, but   
was slowly being forced to the ground under the onslaught. Feeling a   
familiar presence, she knew Tuxedo-kamen had come up next to her to   
lend his support. As he touched her, the silver shield flashed golden   
before blasting outwards, repulsing the attack and flinging all   
combatants backwards.  
  
Hitting the back wall once again, Sailor Moon quickly returned to her   
feet to find the cavern utterly destroyed. All that remained of it   
was the rock they stood around everything else was gone. They now   
fought out in the artic open. Giving a roar of rage, Metalia charged   
at Sailor Moon. Pulling out her scepter, Sailor Moon parried the   
first blast of energy. From the side Tuxedo-kamen attempted to fight   
the demon. Unfortunately, except for those times he managed to   
somehow tap into the golden energy of the Earth, his powers were   
quite limited, and a blast from Metalia sent him flying through the   
sky unconscious.   
  
As the blast hit her love, Sailor Moon let out a cry of pain, the   
soul bond transmitting the pain back to her. She could still feel his   
life force, but it was weak, very weak, such that at any moment it   
might be snuffed out. However, she could not think about that now.   
Metalia had to be stopped both the Earth and her daughter's well   
being depended on it. Putting one foot in front of the other she   
attempted to walk forward to Metalia, attempting to use the Moon   
Scepter to block as many of the attacks as possible, though not   
getting them all.  
  
********  
  
The Earth and the whole solar system trembled in response to the   
battle being fought in the artic. The Dark Energy reacted violently   
with the magical energy of the planets. On the Earth this led to   
violent weather and at the center of the Solar system, at its magical   
apex sunspots began covering the sun.  
  
Some people ran proclaiming the end of the world, others hid in their   
houses scared, and still some, though a small minority, tried to go   
on about their life as normal. Those who attempted to live their life   
normally either believed that the Senshi could solve the problem or   
thankfully did not have an inkling of what these violent reactions   
indicated.  
  
For whatever reason, Hotaru and her father were one of those brave   
souls in the Tokyo area that braved the elements. Of all the beings   
in the city, Hotaru's reaction was probably the strangest, for she   
did not fear what was happening and instead felt strangely refreshed.   
Her good spirits and apparent health that day had caused her father   
to decide to take her to an amusement park outside of Tokyo. He had   
promised her a while back that he would take her to one now that she   
was healthy most of the time. While the happenings with the weather   
and the sun worried him, he was glad to she that they did not worry   
his daughter and felt that a trip to the amusement park might keep   
her from picking up his and everyone else's worries.  
  
Slightly exhausted from a busy day, Professor Tomoe decided to sit   
down on one of the benches, which was conveniently located next to   
two rides that Hotaru had been switching between this past hour. With   
many people being scared away by the weather, there was a light   
turnout at the amusement park and Hotaru did not have to wait in   
going from one ride to another. The two rides that currently held her   
attention were a fairly nasty looking roller coaster, from her   
father's point of view, and a slightly less nasty looking but very   
complicated looking ride which involved lots of spinning within   
spinning, making him dizzy just from looking at it.  
  
Squealing with delight, Hotaru left the spinning ride and began   
making a beeline with a couple of other patrons towards the roller   
coaster, when suddenly she stopped. From off in the distance she felt   
a cry for help, turning she tried to look for its source, but she did   
not see its owner. But, just as soon as she decided it couldn't have   
come from here, she realized that she knew where it was coming from.   
She still could not identify its owner, but knew that the voice was   
familiar and that she should know its owner. Just as quickly as that   
knowledge came to her mind, a phrase came to mind as well. Speaking   
softly, but with a voice that would carry nonetheless she said,   
"Minna let's join our powers together."  
  
With her words spoken, she fell into a trance as the violet sigil of   
Saturn began glowing brightly on her forehead. The children around   
her began to back away as an eerie violet-black energy began to   
course along her skin while her eyes dilated. With the energy   
approaching an apex circular winds began blowing around Hotaru, while   
her own hair was blown backwards and upwards.  
  
Professor Tomoe heard the words spoken by his daughter and looked up   
from his paper to see whom she was speaking to. The sight he saw   
before him made his heart freeze, that of the possessed body of his   
daughter. "Hotaru-chan!" he called as he attempted to run to her. But   
the winds were too strong, forcing him down to the ground. During all   
this, the energy coursing along her body continued to build. All too   
soon, the glow of energy around Hotaru blotted out his view of her.   
But, what he saw scared him greatly, the expression on Hotaru's face   
made him fear for his life.  
  
With the energy reaching a climax, Hotaru closed her eyes and fell   
even further into her trance. As she mouthed a wish, the energy   
erupted from her body heading straight up into the sky for a hundred   
feet before bending over and heading north.  
  
Her energy spent, Hotaru collapsed to the ground as the violent winds   
and her aura vanished. Tomoe quickly gathered his daughter up in his   
arms, unsure and scared over what had just happened. He only hoped   
that the Wiseman when he arrived would be able to help her.  
  
********  
  
From her realm, Pluto heard the uttering of a phrase, something that   
should be impossible here. Yet, the power that would carry those   
words across the world also carried it to the realm where time had no   
meaning, a realm where time was no different than any other   
dimension. Pluto instantly recognized Saturn's voice, even as her   
body erupted forth in a similar pillar of energy. As the pillar left   
her body, it bent over and headed towards the gate, a gate, which had   
somehow opened on its own accord in anticipation.  
  
********  
D-Point  
  
Death for the Sailor Senshi had been neither quick nor painless;   
consequently, their souls were trapped at the place of their death   
unable to return to the rest they deserved in the galactic cauldron.   
For now until eternity, they would be forced to walk the land of   
their death, unless something freed their tormented souls.   
  
Mars looked off to the north, where her princess had gone. It is not   
long now, we have failed our princess and soon she will be here with   
us. Though I have a feeling that after Metalia is done with this   
planet, even our trapped souls will have been destroyed. she   
thought. Feeling the clasp of the hand of another soul, she turned to   
see the rest of Serenity's guards with her.  
  
"She can defeat Metalia, don't worry everything will work out for   
those three." Jupiter said trying to raise everybody's hopes. But it   
did not work; even she did not believe what she had said. ChibiUsa   
knew all of them from her own time in the future; therefore, the   
future had changed with their death.  
  
Each of the four Senshi looked north and wiped a tear from their eyes   
for what they knew was about to befall their princess. Slightly   
offset from them stood Sailor Uranus and Neptune, neither had much   
chance to get to know their princess in this life. Even still, they   
were also lost in mourning for the tragedy that was about to befall   
her.  
  
Then a whisper on the wind, bringing hope with it, spoke to them:   
"Minna, let us join together our powers"  
  
As the whispered words carried from far off reached each of the   
Senshi's ears, their tiaras faded away to expose a glowing sigil on   
their foreheads. As each sigil was revealed the wispy form that was   
their soul erupted into a fountain of light, pouring all of its   
remaining energy skyward. None cared what happened to their eternal   
soul, only that they now knew that they had a way to help their   
princess and so the energy streams grew even brighter as they climbed   
skyward. The energy beams continued until nothing was left behind,   
all of the energy of their soul being sent skyward to their princess.  
  
As the four guardian streams climbed, they joined with the two from   
Uranus and Neptune. From the heavens came a seventh stream and from   
the south came the final stream of energy. Combined into one focused   
stream of energy, the energy carried across the artic towards its   
target  
  
********  
The battle  
  
Sailor Moon now lay on the ground, unable to stand, her left leg was   
probably broken and she knew that she had busted a half dozen ribs.   
To her right lay Endymion, unconscious. At first she had feared that   
he was dead, but through her link with him she could still feel his   
faint vital signs. In front of her was ChibiMoon, and standing above   
the child was the demon Metalia.  
  
She wanted to move, to get ChibiUsa to safety, but she could not. She   
was helpless to watch as Metalia prepared to forcibly take the body   
of her daughter. She had attempted to stop that demon, but Metalia   
was too much for her and now she knew all was lost. Though the battle   
would be instantly over once Metalia possessed ChibiUsa's body, as   
she would now have the ability to use the power of the Ginzuishou.   
Oh, muzume I wish I could help you.  
  
With a grunt, she somehow forced herself back to her feet; using the   
Moon Scepter as a crutch, she began the slow process of walking over.   
She did not know what she would do when she got closer. At best, she   
hoped that the demon would kill her, thereby erasing ChibiUsa and   
saving the child the horror of being possessed.  
  
As she hobbled across the snow, the combined energy stream narrowed   
in on its target and dived down through the clouds. Undetected by all   
present, it slammed into Sailor Moon. Sailor Moon suddenly felt   
herself being lifted up as energy began to seep into her body from   
all around her and new knowledge formed in her mind. With the   
knowledge, came five words which she repeated: "Moon Eternal Power   
Make-Up!" As she finished speaking those words, the energy of her   
soul blasted out of the shell that formed her body. And, as the light   
died down, her true warrior form was revealed. Left standing there in   
the snow was Sailor Moon's final form.   
  
Sensing a sudden release of energy, Metalia looked up from ChibiUsa   
and turned to face Sailor Moon. The energy being emitted from Sailor   
Moon's final henshin forced her to step back as it was too much for   
her. It cannot be, the Messiah of Light was just a stupid prophecy!   
Metalia screamed in her mind, over what she was seeing. But, there in   
front of her stood a winged warrior of the Moon.   
  
The energy of the Ginzuishou flowed through the very being of this   
warrior. A Prophecy from the beginning of the Sailor Wars had been   
fulfilled. A being with an infinitely pure heart had completely   
bonded to the Ginzuishou, they were now one. As a result, the power   
she now held was greater than that of any Queen before her and   
surpassed that of even Sailor Galaxia. She alone had the power to   
destroy Chaos and to redefine the universe, but because of her pure   
heart, she would not.  
  
Forgetting about the child that was to become her vessel, Metalia   
drew all her energy from her stores into herself. Much as the late   
Queen Serenity had only one final last-ditch option left to avoid the   
inevitable, Metalia realized the same held for her here. Queen   
Serenity did not have the power to kill, only to banish her again,   
but this being in front of her could. She had to stop the Messiah of   
Light now, or all she had worked towards would be lost. Metalia   
realized that the Messiah of Light was the reason why Chaos had   
deemed this world so important. Metalia only wished that she had had   
more time to prepare for this final time, as she was still weakened   
from her years of banishment and then from the transition itself.  
  
Attempting to draw even more energy, black lightning left her body   
and began snaking across the planet, draining any it touched. Eagerly   
sucking in that energy, she let it build for a moment before she   
released a blast of energy to test her adversary.  
  
Sailor Moon let the blast slam into her body and the ground around   
her, being unaffected by any of it. The ground responded to the blast   
by erupting into a tower of ice. Reaching its highest extension, the   
top portion splayed open forming a pad and revealing Princess   
Serenity standing in its center. No longer in her Senshi form, she   
stood in the last gown she had worn on the Moon Kingdom. No longer   
hiding her true nature, majestic angel wings sprouted majestically   
from her back. Nestled at her chest lay the Ginzuishou, glowing   
brightly with power. With a mental command, it flew to her   
outstretched hand and the battle began.  
  
Energy arced between the two beings, for the moment, neither held the   
upper hand. Metalia tried to taunt Serenity to reduce her resolve and   
make her momentarily weak. But, Serenity remained strong under the   
onslaught, knowing that she owed it her friends to defeat Beryl for   
their Sacrifice. Suddenly she felt an arm snake around her thin   
waist. She did not need to turn her head to look to know that it was   
Endymion; somehow, he had found the strength to drag himself back to   
his feet to stand this last battle with her.   
  
Drawing on the moral support that he provided and her desire to   
protect her daughter, Serenity reached deep into her soul and into   
the Ginzuishou to find the energy to defeat Metalia once and for all.   
From the energy of the eight planets she held in her soul, each   
planet began pouring its energy into her body and from there into the   
Ginzuishou. Surrendering herself to the call of the Ginzuishou,   
Serenity began pouring her own energy into the crystal. With an   
explosion of light, the Ginzuishou released its stored energy,   
quickly washing over the planet and out into space, erasing all   
traces of the Dark Kingdom and Metalia.  
  
Turning dull, the Ginzuishou fell to the ground as the ice pillar   
Serenity stood on collapsed. Picking herself up from the ground,   
Serenity half crawled to where her daughter lay. Pulling ChibiUsa   
into her arms, she fell to the ground against Endymion who had   
followed her. As her breathing slowed to a still she held her   
daughter closer and just wished that she could have protected her   
better. Then the last of her energy left her and her world went dark   
and the artic was still once again.  
  
********  
  
Slightly off in the distance Pluto's projection watched Serenity's   
final moments, a tear in her eye. Every time she stood in this spot,   
unnoticed by the combatants watching her queen's final moments. She   
wished there was some way to avoid this outcome, but any attempt to   
avoid it would risk too much damage to the time line. Pluto stayed   
till she felt the magic of the Ginzuishou come full circle, giving   
life to death and then the artic plain was truly quit  
  
-End Chapter 18  
-End Book One: War Without End  
  
Endnotes:  
-Well hoped you liked the chapter, this is one of my more   
favorite ones, and I had been anxious to get to it.  
-As you may have noticed with the End Book One statement above  
I have realized that this story really has two kind of distinct   
parts in it, so taking another cue from Babylon 5 I have   
decided to mark those larger divisions as well. Chapter 19:   
"Phoenix Rising" will begin Book Two: "Falling Towards   
Apotheosis".  
-Well all have a good set of holidays and hopefully I will have   
19 out by the end of the month or early in January.  
  



	19. Pheonix Rising

The Fragility of Time  
BOOK TWO: "Falling Towards Apotheosis"  
Chapter 19: "Phoenix Rising"  
Author: etj4Eagle  
Email: etj4Eagle@yahoo.com  
http://www.geocities.com/etj4eagle  
Lasted Edited: 12/6/00  
  
Disclaimer: A reminder I own none of the characters of this story,   
all rights are owned by others. However, the unique circumstances  
of the story are mine. If you distribute the story, do only   
so freely and inform me of where you post it.  
  
_______________________________________  
  
BOOK TWO: "Falling Towards Apotheosis"  
_______________________________________  
  
Streaming in, the warm morning sun bathed a room's occupants, a   
mother and daughter with its warmth while they silently slept. With a   
slight stretch, one of the two sleeping souls opened her eyes to the   
new day. Instinctively her gaze moved down to the sleeping form of   
her daughter, still curled up in her arms. With a joyous smile she   
relaxed, content to let her daughter continue to sleep. She enjoyed   
mornings like this one when she could leisurely wakeup while she   
watched her daughter sleep in her arms. The two, mother and daughter,   
remained like that for a quite while until the child finally awoke.  
  
Opening her eyes and looking up at her mother's face she said,   
"Morning, Okaa-san."  
  
"Morning muzume." The older one replied. "Come lets get dressed and   
then head on down for breakfast."  
  
The younger one quickly agreed and mother and daughter headed into   
the bathroom to get ready for the day. If asked, neither of the two   
would have been able to tell you what day it was or what they would   
be doing, but somehow they knew it to be a day of relaxing and   
dressed accordingly. Though if either of them had bothered to look at   
the calendar they would have noticed that it was a school day and   
they were extremely late for class.  
  
Hearing noise upstairs, Ikuko quickly heated up some breakfast for   
her daughter and granddaughter. As she placed the final item on the   
table, the two now awake souls swept into the room. Their stomachs   
rumbling they quickly dove into the food with no more than a   
"morning" to Ikuko. Greeting her daughter, Ikuko stopped in mid-  
sentence as she got a good luck at her daughter.  
  
Sleep had not come easy to Ikuko last night, both she and her husband   
knew that a very good chance existed that they would never see their   
daughter again. Her hands that evening had held the proof that Usagi   
also agreed with that sediment. She had held the letters, which Usagi   
wrote, the same as those that a military commander would write to the   
families of a fallen soldier. Actually in this case the analogy was   
quite appropriate, as weren't those what those girls were? But, then   
sometime around three in the morning, she felt a wave of warmth pass   
through her body and knew that things were going to be all right,   
allowing sleep to finally overcome her body.  
  
What she had not expected was for her daughter, Usagi, to be changed   
by that power she would have to wield. But now she realized that was   
a foolish thought. By grasping hold of the power that was hers to   
command, Usagi would naturally have reverted to her true form, the   
Moon Princess. Usagi herself was no more; instead, the one who sat in   
front of her at the table was Princess Serenity of the Moon Kingdom.   
Yet, this realization did not falter Ikuko at all. A few weeks ago,   
it would have been disastrous, but now she realized that her daughter   
would always love her. Plus because of the rebirth, she was just as   
responsible for the kind of queen Serenity would become as the past   
Queen Serenity.  
  
That realization had given her a slight start, but what had now   
utterly knocked her mind for a loop was something else, something no   
one had mentioned as being part of the transformation. Yes her   
daughter was Princess Serenity, but she also now had large wings   
coming out of her back. What kept coming to her mind was images from   
one of those Christian chapels she had visited a while back with   
their depictions of angels, for her daughter now looked like an   
angel.  
  
********  
  
The noise of the moon princess coming down the stairs had stirred   
Luna from her catnap on the sofa in a nice ray of sun. Walking into   
the kitchen to see her princess, she opened her mouth to address her,   
but instead simply fainted when she got a good look at her princess.   
The reactions of Luna and Ikuko went unnoticed by the two eating   
their breakfast. Instead, their attention was utterly devoted to   
consuming all the food in front of them as quickly as possible. There   
normal appetites were ravenous, but today their appetites made their   
normal ones look small. Of course, it was with good reason,   
considering the amount of energy they had expended the previous day.  
  
Recovering, Luna walked over to the table. "Serenity-san I am glad to   
see that you are okay. I take it that you managed to defeat the Dark   
Kingdom."  
  
"Hai," replied the Moon Princess. Then pausing she continued in   
sorrow, "but the others. they all fell defending me. Only me,   
ChibiUsa, and Mamo-chan survived. Though I don't know how we got back   
here."  
  
"But, Serenity-san the others were all in their beds this morning.   
Artemis and I checked in on each of the Senshi five hours ago. And,   
they were all asleep in their bed, not looking the worse for wear."  
  
"But how is that possible?" wondered Serenity.  
  
"The Ginzuishou, it did it once before sending you all into the   
future. Somehow it must have been able to bring them back to life and   
send all of you home."  
  
"Oh, thank-you, thank-you Luna." cried Serenity as she got up from   
her chair and grabbed the cat up into a hug, swinging her around.   
With the spirits of the two girls significantly brightened over that   
news, one final question remained on Serenity's mind. "Luna, why are   
you calling me Serenity instead of Usagi?"  
  
Recovering, Ikuko laughed a little at her daughter's question before   
suggesting "Honey, why don't you go look at yourself in a mirror."   
  
ChibiUsa took that moment to actually look at her mother and almost   
fell over with what she saw, while wondering how she could have been   
so blind to miss it this morning, especially those wings.   
  
"And be careful of things on tables dear." Ikuko suggested to her   
daughter who was now beginning to get up from the table.  
  
"Huh?" replied her daughter as she left the table, which was followed   
almost immediately by the crash of the table being abruptly cleared.   
The sight of her mother sending dishes flying to the floor while   
dashing to the bathroom knocked ChibiUsa into a fit of giggles  
  
Very soon after Serenity was back in the kitchen. "Luna what   
happened? Why am I in this form? I can't change back to my normal   
form."  
  
"Serenity you used the power of the Ginzuishou last night right?"   
with Serenity's nod she continued. "How exactly did you use it,   
including any thoughts that might have been in your mind."  
  
Before Serenity could begin, Ikuko made an excuse to leave taking   
ChibiUsa with her. She had suggested that it might be best that   
ChibiUsa being only a small child not here the details, but really   
Ikuko herself did not want to know how close her daughter had come to   
death. Maybe in the future she would want to here the whole story,   
but now the events and her worry were too fresh for her to handle.  
  
After her mom left, Serenity began her description of the battle   
against Metalia to Luna. Retelling the events of the battle took   
fifteen minutes, and she only had the final moments before she   
surrendered her body to the darkness to tell. "And then as I felt   
myself dieing after the battle with ChibiUsa in my arms, I thought   
about how I wanted to always be able to protect her from any harm and   
how useless I had been at times protecting my daughter."  
  
Thinking for a moment Luna replied, "Your majesty while I don't know   
much about the Ginzuishou, I believe I know what happened. The one   
thought on your mind with your death was your desire to protect your   
daughter and the Ginzuishou responded to that wish. As long as you   
maintained your duel forms of Usagi and Serenity, your powers were   
limited. They had gotten stronger, but as Usagi you can't use any of   
your powers, which hampers your ability to protect ChibiUsa.   
Therefore, to fulfill your final command it had to cause your final   
form to take over, just as it gave life back to the other Senshi so   
that they could protect the two of you.  
  
"The power needed to achieve a single resurrection should be beyond   
the ability of any wielder of the Ginzuishou. I don't know how it   
happened, only that it is a miracle. You talked of a sudden surge of   
energy when all the eight planets of the Silver Millennium seemed to   
join you, somehow that must have given you the power needed to   
achieve the miracle you requested.   
  
"As to why you now have those wings, I do not know. Your mother, when   
she reached maturity with her powers, would have ethereal wings when   
her aura was present. But these seem to be something different.   
Something is different between you and all previous queens of your   
line. Though that was already evident by the awakening in you of a   
new Sailor Soldier. What it means I am not sure."  
  
********  
  
Earlier in the morning hours, the city of Tokyo had begun to awake   
and face its first day following the threat of subjugation by the   
Dark Kingdom. Until recently, the people had attempted to avoid   
remembering or thinking about what these monster attacks might be. It   
was not till the massive battle in one of the city's parks, which   
involved a flight of attack helicopters that people began paying   
attention to these attacks instead of dismissing them. But once again   
this morning the populous awoke to a feeling that everything was   
okay, with any thought of those monsters in the back of their mind.   
What had been front-page news had suddenly become fit for nothing   
more than the tabloids.  
  
At the various military bases, while orders had not yet come to stand   
down from their heightened alert, the personal were treating the   
happenings as a completed campaign. For some they might wonder in a   
few years whether these engagements actually happened, but for one   
that would never be the case. He had a cat's collar and a child's   
earring, shaped like a crescent moon, to always remind him of what   
really happened. He knew where the first came from, and would have   
not been too surprised to learn that the second had also come from   
that kitten he had taken in.  
  
Elsewhere in the city a gaijen man now in his fifties ran. The   
previous few days he had taken his morning runs with the members of   
team two. But, today he was not so much interested in a training run,   
but a nice relaxing one allowing him to think. This morning when he   
woke up, he knew something had changed something was different. From   
all his years as a spook, often in the streets of Moscow, he had   
learned to trust his instincts.  
  
Partial confirmation of something being up came when he had turned on   
the morning news. At first it had seemed normal, but then he realized   
the problem was that it was too normal, something was missing from   
it, the something of course being the normal concern about the ever   
more destructive battles between the Sailor Senshi and those   
monsters.  
  
Yet even that did not seem to explain the feeling of change he was   
feeling. The oddness about the sudden change in everyone's attitude   
struck him as strange. But as Chavez had said, "That must mean that   
the good guys were victorious boss." He could not argue there, and it   
did feel as if the Sailor Senshi had defeated the enemy. But, yet he   
still could not shake the feeling that everything had changed, that   
"nothing was the same anymore".  
  
********  
  
Clark was not the only one who sensed the change. Father Morgan had   
felt the new age dawning when he awoke in the morning. His morning's   
meditations only confirmed it; the coming of the Messiah was a step   
closer. With excitement in his actions, he quickly sent off an email   
to the Vatican informing them of what he felt. Then with a smile he   
stood outside his little chapel to great the morning while hoping   
that the Messiah would pay him a visit this morning.  
  
********  
  
Of course, not all really welcomed the warm good feeling they awoke   
to in the morning. One individual in particular awoke extremely sick.   
Not feeling good one bit Rubeus attempted to make himself feel better   
by hurling a sphere of energy at the chair in his room. However, his   
attempt utterly failed, his sphere fizzing out after a mere few   
centimeters while he collapsed to the ground in pain.  
  
What is wrong with me? he wondered. Struggling to his feet he went   
to the window to look out upon the day, the beautiful day did not   
help his mood. Desperately trying to grab strength he grabbed the   
Dark Crystal fragment that he still held, clutching it to his chest   
as his body passed out.  
  
As he came to, he realized that something was not right, he was   
no longer in the physical world, but in the spiritual world   
that the Wiseman now inhabited. Looking up, he saw whom he   
expected to see.  
  
"Wiseman what is wrong, something has happened."  
  
"The younger self of Neo-Queen Serenity has used the Ginzuishou   
on an unprecedented scale. What you are feeling are the side   
effects of the crystal attempting to destroy your body. The   
power she unleashed was so massive that it reached around the   
globe. You are lucky; if you had been of lesser abilities, you   
would have been destroyed.  
  
"I can heal you, but be careful she can destroy you easily.   
Only I have the power to challenge her. For the time, even   
forget about the rabbit, your priority is helping Prof Tomoe   
complete his gate."  
  
With that, the robed figure of the Wiseman extended his arm,   
his skeleton hand becoming visible as a force of dark energy   
flowed from it and into Rubeus. As the energy flowed and   
enveloped his body Rubeus felt himself feeling better and   
stronger.  
  
"YES!" cried Rubeus when he opened his eyes back on the physical   
world. With a smile, he threw out his arm and launched a blast of   
energy at the same chair as before, though this time it was utterly   
obliterated. "Well rabbit you get to stay with you mother for now."   
he mused to himself before heading out of his room to begin his day   
with a visit to the good professor.  
  
********  
  
Out in the dark reaches of space, an object made its final   
maneuvering adjustments. The first of these adjustments had only come   
less than twelve earth hours before. Soon it would begin the process   
of breaking, first taking it out of super-luminal transport and then   
slow it down for reentry. By the next morning, its occupants would be   
at their destination, where they hoped to finally find survival. This   
was their last chance for survival; if they could not find it here   
then they would die.  
  
********  
  
Eudial looked up from her computer to see Professor Tomoe sanding in   
front of her. "Tomoe-sensei what can I do for you?" she asked.  
  
"Eudial-san something has happened to the lab experiments. Something   
last night managed to destroy every single one. I would like you to   
see if you could figure out what went wrong, and also send in a clean   
up team. This is going to knock us behind schedule, so it's important   
that we get the replacement experiments set up as soon as possible. I   
am going heading home for a bit, I will be back later."  
  
"Of course, I will get right on it." Eudial said as she rose from her   
desk. "Oh Tomoe-sensei how's Hotaru doing, I heard about what   
happened yesterday."  
  
"She is doing is doing fine this morning. Not quite sure what   
happened yesterday, guess she hasn't totally gotten over those   
fainting spells." he replied. Professor Tomoe had not told anyone   
what had really happened yesterday with Hotaru, he still had trouble   
believing it himself and it also terrified him when ever he thought   
about it. "But I know of something that will cheer her right up." And   
with that, he departed the office and then the building.   
  
Eudial watched him leave Oh I really hope that Hotaru begins to get   
over those fainting spells soon. She really does not deserve the life   
that fate dealt her. Well better go see what happened to the   
professor's experiments. Walking down to the lab, she wondered what   
could have destroyed them all.  
  
Opening the door, she expected to see shattered glassware everywhere.   
Instead what she saw was a pristine laboratory, one even devoid of   
that unsettling air it normally housed. Huh? she thought. Walking   
up to the lab bench she picked up one of the beakers to look at it.   
Instead of the organic broth that it normally contained, it now only   
had a layer of dust at its bottom. Pulling out a bag she poured the   
contents into it and sealed it, maybe my friend in the geology   
department might be able to make something of this.  
  
Leaving the lab a half hour later, she had been unable to find any   
more clues as to what had happened. Her interest peaked as to what   
had caused the damage; she first walked over to the geology   
department to drop the sample off for analysis before heading back to   
her office. With a smirk, she noticed that the professor's five other   
research students for that lab had all called in sick today. Wonder   
what was wrong with them, I myself feel fine, actually a bit   
invigorated today.  
  
********  
  
As the morning sun rose high in the sky, one other child awoke,   
having slept late. Stretching she did not immediately recognize her   
surroundings. Still half asleep, she walked to the window to pull   
open the curtains and saw 20th centaury Japan staring her back.   
"Small Lady" escaped from her lips as she fully awoke, remembering   
where she was and her need to quickly find her charge. While the urge   
to find Small Lady had been reduced by the night's sleep, she still   
felt out of place here and wanted to find her charge and also see her   
mom and pop soon.  
  
With a yawn and a stretch, she shifted her clothes so that they once   
again looked fresh. Opening the door to her room, she found a platter   
with some food and a note. Bringing in the platter, she first dove   
into the food, and then having satisfied her hunger opened the note.   
Upon opening envelope, two pieces of paper fell out. One was a ticket   
to Tokyo on the bullet train and the other a quick note from Sasami,   
the girl from the restaurant last night, wishing her luck.  
  
With her hope lifted, Diana tucked the note close to her chest and   
headed out of the room with the ticket. The ticket would enable her   
to be in Tokyo by nightfall.  
  
********  
  
Arriving back at his house, having obtained the necessary forms,   
Professor Tomoe headed up to his study. Sitting down at his desk, he   
began filling out the forms. He had always hoped that one day he   
would be filling out these forms, but had assumed it to be at best   
far out in the future. But here he was filling out the forms to send   
his daughter back to the public schools.  
  
Before the death of his wife and his daughter's resulting illness,   
she had attended school. But with the weakness her illness brought on   
and the other students becoming scared of her, he had pulled her out   
of the school system to be home schooled. Doctors had been unable to   
diagnose the source those violent episodes followed by blackouts,   
which had scared her classmates. But if Rubeus was right, they were   
caused by that demon inside of her, which he had now neutralized.  
  
He knew that her one desire in the world was to be normal like the   
other children her age. The first step in achieving that would be to   
return to school with them. He felt her fainting spells and periods   
of weakness had gotten sufficiently sparse that she could now return   
to school. Unfortunately, her previous classmates would probably   
still remember her, so he was applying for her to attend a different   
school. This would give her a chance to start fresh and make more   
friends like that child ChibiUsa.  
  
Finishing the forms, he put them together and to the side of her   
desk, he would deal with them later. Probably the best time would be   
sometime this afternoon, he needed to get Hotaru a fuku as well, so   
might as well combine those two trips. Reclining back in the chair a   
smile crossed his face as he imagined Hotaru's happy face when he   
broke the news to her at lunchtime.  
  
********  
  
While Usagi was discovering that she was no longer quite Usagi and   
possibly something more than even Princess Serenity, Ami sat in her   
advanced math class taking a test. Or at least she was attempting to   
take a test, but for the first time in her life, she was finding that   
the answers were not forth coming. She had raced through the test   
with her normal speed, but then halfway through, she hit a brick   
wall.  
  
She attempted to look at the unfinished question that lay in front of   
her, but her attention kept being drawn back to the clock. She had   
woken up this morning with her thoughts in a daze, but she had   
thought that had finally dissipated when the bell rang this morning.   
But now for some reason the haze had chosen this most annoying time   
to return.  
  
Looking back at the clock she noticed five more minutes had passed,   
getting frustrated she hit her head on the desk, hoping to knock some   
sense back into her. Instead the thought of the Usagi's empty desk   
and the smaller desk for her cousin set next to it from her previous   
class came to her mind. She did not know why she kept dwelling on   
this, Usagi was probably just sick today, nothing wrong with that.   
But her mind seemed to keep screaming at her that she was missing   
something. She did not know why, she liked hard facts, but she had a   
feeling that this something she was missing about Usagi was the cause   
of her haziness.  
  
Glancing back at the clock, she saw that she only had five minutes   
left. Beginning to panic for one of the few times in her life, the   
adrenaline drove the haze its worries out of her mind again for the   
time. Clear headed she dove back into the exam, attempting to finish   
the second half before the clock ticked the end of the exam.  
  
********  
  
While Ami attempted to complete her exam and Usagi and Luna puzzled   
over the princess's transformation, ChibiUsa relaxed in the embrace   
of her grandmother in the living room, perfectly content. For the   
first time in many weeks the worries that normally plagued her were   
gone for the moment. In the back of her mind, she knew that Rubeus   
still had to be dealt with, but she had seen her mother take care of   
him before, and therefore was not too worried about him now that the   
Dark Kingdom was destroyed.  
  
Her mother's true form taking over had also added to her feeling of   
being at peace. While she loved Usagi, she just felt even better   
being in the embrace of Serenity than Usagi, even though the two of   
them were the same person. She guessed it was just that she grew up   
knowing her mother as Serenity and not Usagi. She figured it was   
going to be tough now avoiding calling her mama in public.  
  
Stirring she got up off her grandmother's lap and headed for the   
bathroom. As she was washing her hands, she looked up into the   
mirror. Looking at her face, her eyes narrowed. Looking again to   
ensure that she was not dreaming she brought her now shaking arms to   
her forehead. When she felt only skin and the golden crescent moon   
remained she finally lost all composure and dashed from the bathroom   
shrieking with joy.  
  
A startled mother and Luna saw the child dash into the room. Opening   
her arms, Serenity managed to catch her daughter, who immediately   
wrapped her little arms around her neck. She could feel the joy her   
daughter was emitting, and after giving ChibiUsa a moment to calm   
down she asked, "Muzume what is it?"  
  
ChibiUsa pulled back enough to look at her mother in the eyes before   
answering. "It's the crescent moon, it has not been visible since I   
was born. Finally I truly am your daughter and heir to the power of   
the moon." And with that, she fell back into her mother's embrace   
with a renewed burst of tears.  
  
Serenity held her child in her arms, knowing what this meant to her   
daughter. She knew of ChibiUsa's torments that had led to her first   
trip back in time. This little mark on her head finally put all those   
demons to sleep. And the presence of the sigil also probably meant   
that her daughter now could learn to control the magic of the moon.  
  
********  
  
All across Tokyo, people went to work, play, school and so on with an   
extra spring in their step, instinctively knowing that a great evil   
had been lifted even though most of them no longer remembered that   
evil. And for those who readily remembered the events of the previous   
days, they did not puzzle too much over the sudden disappearance of   
any talk about those events. For in many parts they were happy that   
the nightmare for the moment had vanished and the warm feeling they   
felt did not let them worry for more than a moment.  
  
As the day marched on, the glow from the Ginzuishou's magic finally   
began to fade from the planet, leaving behind a planet that would   
unfortunately not know peace and tranquility for much longer. But for   
the moment, its Guardians rested comfortably and at peace, not   
exactly forgetting who they were, but not yet remembering it either.  
  
********  
  
While others headed home to play or study, a maiden sat down in front   
of her fire to begin her daily ritual. Some might quibble about her   
calling the flame hers, but she knew that this fire, its strength and   
purity, belonged to her. A trained priest or priestess could   
partially control the fire in hope that the scared flames might   
reveal guidance. But her powerful aura more than controlled it. Being   
of the same nature as the flames, it bonded and became one with the   
fire.  
  
Within moments of tasting the power of Mars, the fire had reacted by   
opening the eyes of its mistress to memories, which had become fuzzy   
and to memories forgotten. The spirit of the fire danced and   
flickered through her soul revealing what had been forgotten. This   
task took from when the shadows first began to lengthen till when   
they had given way to complete darkness. Now having completed its   
first task it once again desired direction. Its semi-consciousness   
traveled across the bound the two of them shared and melded with its   
mistress's mind.  
  
The maiden, clothed in a simple Shinto shrine robe, knelt in front of   
the fire chanting. The words she chanted held no special power,   
instead they put her in the proper mental state to establish control   
over the fire. As a side benefit, she also had better control over   
her spiritual powers of Mars in this state, enhancing her control   
over the fire. A few days ago, she would not have been able to   
achieve anywhere near the control that she now held of the fire.  
  
Before then she was only a Tehran with the dormant power of Mars, but   
now her body had been transformed and the power of Mars never went   
dormant. Now truly the Senshi of Mars, her thoughts and desires were   
plainly discernable by the fire. Before even with the aid her dormant   
power lent, she still was only a Tehran, and the fire could not   
really bound with a Tehran. But now during her meditations the two   
became one.  
  
The power of Mars fueled the spiritual aspect of the flame, providing   
it with the energy it needed to search for the answers its mistress   
desired. Finding the question she held, the flames used that power to   
search for the answer. Rei knelt in front of the fire chanting and   
focusing on the question she desired to know. With a roar, the flame   
flashed up in front of her, obscuring her view of everything in the   
whiteness of its bright light.   
  
When her vision returned, it was not that of the room of the fire.   
Instead, she stood on a hill overlooking a majestic city built   
entirely out of crystal. In its center, a palace reached skyward. The   
breeze brought forth a sweet smell and a feeling of utter peace.   
Extending her senses, she was surprised to find nothing more than   
that of a utopia; no evil of any kind permeated anywhere. Could it   
be possible that we will be able to replicate the majesty of the   
Silver Millennium here on Earth? Will our labors bring this utopia to   
bear? she wondered.  
  
As soon as those thoughts began to cross her mind, she felt the   
shiver of something not right. Actually it was more than that,   
something was dreadfully wrong. Whipping her body around she looked   
for the source of the problem. But, just as with the previous sense   
of perfection, the sense of pending doom radiated from everywhere at   
once, from the very fabric of the megaverse itself. Drawn, her gaze   
moved to the crystal spire of the palace, and as she centered her   
gaze, it exploded into a shower of crystal shards. The damage did not   
stop there however; instead as each shard fell and struck another   
part of the city, it too exploded into a shower of shards. The trees,   
animals and the Earth itself were not exempt from the destruction.  
  
Rei suddenly found herself looking at the Earth from space, watching   
as it erupted in a shower which caught the other planets in the solar   
system destroying them, and finally catching the sun, setting off a   
chain reaction that raced through first the galaxy and then the   
cosmos itself.   
  
With a frightened gasp Rei tore herself from the vision to find   
herself once again in the room of the sacred fire. Her pulse racing   
crazily and her body drenched in sweat, she tried to understand what   
the fire had shown her, but could find no meaning, only more fear.   
Glancing at the fire as she stood up, she saw an angel turning to   
face her with an expression of warmth. Looking up at the face of the   
angel, she recognized it at the same moment she felt a sudden great   
fear and the image exploded into crystal shards, flying into her   
body. With a scream Rei's aura pulsed ending her connection to the   
fire and her now limp body fell to the ground.  
  
********  
  
A radar officer passed away the slow hours of the night watching his   
screen. These early warning systems had only gone in about a year   
ago, over the renewed fear of a rogue state launching an attack.   
Though the intercept technology was an utter joke, but to save face   
they manned these radar stations round the clock and had some   
purposed "intercepts" to launch in case.  
  
He wondered how he had gotten this post; this was not what life in   
the military was supposed to be. But somehow, fate had contrived to   
stick him in this boring backwoods position. He only hoped that he   
would be able to rotate to some other post soon. Heck, this job would   
probably have been fine if it was located in say Vegas and not here   
in the middle of nowhere.  
  
A sudden flurry of light on his screen grabbed his attention away   
from his bout of self-pity. Looking at the screen he quickly saw what   
had caused the warning lights to go off, a high-speed object on a   
ballistic course had been detected. The object now boxed in red was   
being analyzed by the sophisticated computer systems to determine its   
target and country of origin, the results being displayed beside it   
on the screen.  
  
He sighed a bit in relief when he noticed that it was heading in the   
wrong direction to hit his country, but of course, he still worried   
about the pore saps that were the subjects of this apparent nuclear   
strike. People whom the computer chose that moment to identify as   
those living around Tokyo, Japan. And then the computer answered the   
question, which had him confused: who had launched the warhead and   
why only one. The final stats displayed on the screen revealed the   
object to be of extraterrestrial origin. With a curse upon reading   
the projected blast numbers, he picked up the phone to alert his   
superiors to a major meteor strike.  
  
********  
  
The large object racing through the Earth's atmosphere was not quite   
the rocky meteor that one would have guessed it to be. Instead, it   
was not much more than an energy shield containing three life forms,   
not that one could tell that with any current Tehran technology.   
Hence, the assumption that Tokyo was moments away from being hit by a   
major meteor strike was not surprising. Those who were awake in the   
wee hours of the night saw a fiery object streak through the sky and   
slam into the ground.  
  
Reaching the ground in only seconds, the object dove into the ground   
for a couple hundred feet, leaving a trench of slightly molten rock   
and pavement. The extreme heat being radiated from its energy shield   
set off small fires along its path during the final moments of its   
flight. With a resounding thump, it finally came to a stop and the   
energy shield dissipated. With a quick look around, the passengers   
vanished from the impact site, leaving nothing but a mystery to be   
found by the approaching investigators.  
  
Ami lived far enough away from the impact site to not have been   
awakened by the impact and the quake was too minor to awake anyone   
but the lightest sleepers. However, she still awakened, feeling once   
again a familiar unease. Not sure why, she changed from her pajamas   
into clothes and moved to her window to look out into the night. And   
then instinct took over and with a flick of her wrist she called out   
"Mercury Star Power, Make Up."   
  
Around the Juuban district a similar scene played out, as the other   
Senshi called upon their powers again. With the flow of power back   
into their bodies, the haziness was burned away. Within moments, each   
was on the roofs moving towards the impact site. Only Mars and the   
two Sailor Moons knew before they called upon their powers what the   
others could not remember but yet had not forgotten either.   
  
Gathering on a building overlooking the site, the Senshi took a   
moment to look at each other and revel in the knowledge that somehow   
through some miracle they were all alive again. Each had an unspoken   
question, that being of their leader and princess. Each hoped that   
she was okay, but had a sinking feeling that she may have sacrificed   
her life so that they could have theirs back. With two more pairs of   
boots landing on the roof they turned to see their object of worry.  
  
"Sorry I'm late" Sailor Moon said.  
  
"Yeah she's a tad bit larger now, couldn't fit through the window."   
taunted ChibiMoon while the others just looked at their leader   
stunned.  
  
********  
  
To the other side of the impact zone stood two new arrivals to earth.   
Their arrival had been less smooth than they would have liked, but   
given the circumstance it was the best they could hope for. Standing   
against each other as the nighttime breeze blew by they looked out at   
their new home.   
  
"Do you think this world will do?" asked one of the two.  
  
"I don't know, but it is our last hope. We don't have the energy to   
return to space, and I am afraid the tree will die very soon as it   
is." replied the other. Then looking out over the city, he continued,   
"But we both felt it, that energy on this planet. It just feels so   
right; it is what we need to feed the tree. One way or the other we   
will obtain it." And with that, the two headed out into the night to   
explore their new home.  
  
Endnotes:  
-Sorry for taking so long to get this chapter out, it has been   
essentially done for a long while. But I do have an excuse at   
least. I have been sick with mono these past few weeks.   
Thankfully, it is a mild case, allowing me to attend my   
classes, but that is all that I have been able to do.  
-There were two other scenes that I wanted to add to this   
chapter, but also I want to get it out so they will be held   
over to the next one, and dealt in flashback/remembrance style.  
-Well Ail and Ann are here and it is about time for Rubeus and   
Dr. Tomoe to begin making their moves. And what about   
Usagi/Serenity, what do these changes mean for her?  
  



	20. To Live and Die by Starlight

The Fragility of Time  
BOOK TWO: "Falling Towards Apotheosis"  
Chapter 20: "To Live and Die in Starlight"  
Author: etj4Eagle  
Email: etj4Eagle@yahoo.com  
http://www.geocities.com/etj4eagle  
Lasted Edited: 5/18/01  
  
Disclaimer: A reminder I own none of the characters of this story,   
all rights are owned by others. However, the unique circumstances  
of the story are mine. If you distribute the story, do only   
so freely and inform me of where you post it.  
___________________________  
  
"She. She has wings," Jupiter managed to finally say, the others being   
too stunned for the moment to say anything. Well except for Mercury,   
who like any good scientist was examining/dissecting the subject in front   
of her.  
  
"Ow! Do you mind?" Sailor Moon asked, turning to glare at her examiner,   
who was currently holding one of her wings up to see where it connected.  
  
"Gomen, don't know what came over me," the abashed Sailor Senshi   
replied. Releasing the wing, Mercury backed away, and resisted the urges   
to go examine those wings some more. I wonder if she can fly with   
them? If she can, the wings lift would have to be magically enhanced.  
  
"Anyways we are not here to gawk at my new outfit nor the wings that I   
somehow acquired. Something powerful crashed into the city over there,"   
Sailor Moon said pointing towards the crater in the ground. "And we   
should find out all we can about it."  
  
"The princess is right. That object came from outside our solar system and   
with an entrance like that it is probably a threat." Uranus replied. Neptune   
whom had been resting against Uranus's shoulder nodded her assent.  
  
"Ooh, but it is so much more fun poking at Usagi's wings." Venus   
whined.  
  
Mars getting slightly annoyed silenced Venus's whining by grabbing her   
by the ear and proceeding to drag her to the side of the roof. "If it is not   
one blond acting up it is the other." Mars mumbled. Then as what she said   
sunk in and her mind awoke to something else not being quite right she   
cried out, "HOLD IT!" while spinning to regard the princess, "Your hair it   
is no longer blond." She accused Serenity.  
  
The rest of the Senshi all stopped walking towards the edge of the building   
and turned to stare at their princess, none of them having noticed the   
different hair color till now. Of course that was forgivable considering that   
it was night after all, plus they were a bit too occupied by their leader's   
new wings. So now they looked closely at her hair and one by one they   
acknowledged the new hair color with, "Yep, Yeah, I would say that ain't   
blond, Silver looks good on you," and the like.  
  
Mercury clearing her throat pulled their attention back to the situation with   
the crater. If she was not going to be allowed to poke and prod Usagi and   
examine those wings, then they better damn well be investigating that   
mysterious crater. Her little analytical mind was dieing to analyze   
something and if she didn't get to analyze something soon she might just   
start running a medical test on Jupiter who was standing conveniently   
close by.  
  
With the group reassembled and focused again on investing the crater,   
they jumped down off the building. Activating her scanner and bringing   
out her computer, Mercury scanned the area, while the others looked   
around. The impact had drawn a small crowed, but the police had quickly   
dispersed it, and now the streets were deserted once again. While the   
police probably would have let the Senshi poke around in the crater, Ami   
was glad no one was here, since the presence of the Senshi would just help   
to fuel some unneeded hysteria.  
  
Forty minutes later, they finished up their investigation and each went   
their separate ways to try to salvage some sleep from the night.   
Unfortunately, as far as they were concerned, Mercury's analysis had   
come to the same conclusion that Uranus and Neptune knew innately.   
Once again, it looked like they had two threats to deal with. This crater   
was the crash landing of a couple of life forms from outside the solar   
system. These new arrivals had used some kind of energy sphere to travel   
in, much the same way they would should they ever have the need to   
travel the stars.   
  
One other thing Mercury noticed, which she kept to herself for the   
moment not wanting to give the others a false impression, the energy   
residuals were extremely weak. They were far below what her computer   
gave as the norm for space flight. That indicated that the travelers were   
low on energy, but whereas the others might see an easy opponent, she   
knew that meant they would be facing a much more ferocious one, an   
opponent who was fighting for their very own existence.  
  
********  
  
The exiled princess of the moon kingdom greeted the morning sun with a   
yawn. Turning her head, she looked at the clock. Upon seeing the time,   
she gave a disgusted sigh and dropped her head back to the pillow. Why   
am I awake at this hour? Even if I were heading to school, I would not be   
getting up for another thirty minutes. Wrapping the covers around her   
body she attempted to fall back asleep, but for one of the few times in her   
life, sleep just would not come.  
  
Throwing the covers down she got out of the bed, not at all happy about   
the situation. Without thought, she adjusted the blanket to recover her   
child before silently storming out to the bathroom. Looking at her face in   
the mirror, she wondered why she could not fall back asleep, especially   
after having to get up in the middle of the night. Returning to her room,   
she walked over to her desk, glancing down at her locket. Absent-  
mindedly she picked it up, and with a mental command caused the locket   
to vanish releasing the crystal from its confines. Cupping the glowing   
crystal in her hands, she walked over to the middle of the room and sat   
down.   
  
Peering into the heart of the Ginzuishou, she could feel its energy and   
even to a slight extent its bound to her soul. At first she just stared at it,   
admiring its beauty, never having taken the opportunity to do that before,   
and was marveled by what she saw. In a distant part of her mind she   
remembered Ami's or was that Mercury's, of course the difference   
between the two was academic, description of fractals, now truly   
understanding what the Mercurian Princess meant. Feeling its energy she   
suddenly realized why she was awake, staring at it a bit more sternly she   
spoke to it, "It was you who woke me up wasn't it?"   
  
A slight pulse of energy was the crystals response. While she did not know   
exactly what it said, the gist of the message was clear, yes the crystal had   
awoken her. But she was not yet sure why, surely it was not simply for her   
to sit here and look at it, though she did enjoy doing that. However, the   
princess did not have to ponder long the why, as the Ginzuishou came   
alive, flooding the room with its energy. As its energy bathed Serenity, the   
two melded into one for the time.  
  
Her mind linked to that of the crystal and the physical world faded from   
Serenity's perception. Replaced instead by images, memories of the   
crystal, of herself and the other girls from the past few months. She   
watched as a dormant part of their souls erupted in light and life, bringing   
the warrior of the past to the present. She saw a child born, cloaked in   
strong magic to mask and hide its aura. She watched as her attempts to   
protect her daughter caused her aura to grow stronger and the resulting   
increased difficulty that the glamour spell had in hiding her aura from   
view, and how that energy came from her own reserves. The last finally   
answering that question of why she felt extra drained after using her   
stronger attacks. Then she saw the powers of the other Senshi crash into   
her form while she faced Metalia, and the resulting shower of energy from   
the spell exploding, overwhelmed and broken.   
  
Understanding beginning to form in her mind, the crystal brought other   
images to the front. Now she watched as Pluto guarded the gate of time,   
stabilizing the damage to the time stream. She saw the worry evident on   
the Time Guardian's face as she made a decision, one that she could never   
make lightly, the decision to enter the time stream. She watched as Pluto   
stepped out into her time and wove a magic spell around her to disguise   
herself as Setsuna.   
  
Now knowing what to do, the Moon Princes abruptly rose and cried out,   
"That's it!'   
  
True to the habits she inherited from her mother, ChibiUsa soundly slept   
through the outburst, while a half-asleep Luna opened one eye and replied,   
"What's what?"   
  
Not registering Luna's question, Serenity knelt down to quickly recover   
the crystal from where she had accidentally flung it. Cupping it in her   
hands she let her energy flow as she began the spell, one that would solve   
her current troubles. With her sigil glowing brightly, energy visibly flowed   
down her hands and into the crystal. Then with a sudden backlash, the   
energy coursed back up her body to utterly obscure her from view. Then it   
was gone and so was Serenity, and instead Usagi remained in her place.  
  
With a laugh of triumph, the silver haired Usagi swung around to regard   
Luna. "What do you think?" She asked her guardian.  
  
"Wha.. Huh..?" sputtered Luna.  
  
A smiling Usagi decided to help her out. "Its like the disguise pen, only   
better."  
  
Not noticing the baiting, Luna lashed back out at her charge ready to   
chastise her, "How many times have I told you the Lunar Pen is only for   
Senshi business?"  
  
Laughing a bit now, Usagi continued, "Yeash, Luna relax. One, this is   
actually Senshi business, we can't really have me walk outside with my   
wings now can we?" Luna had to give her that and plumped back down,   
the wind removed from her sails. "Also this is much different that the   
Lunar Pen, it basically the same spell that the crystal fragment had cast on   
me since the time I was born. You know, the one that made you think I   
was a Sailor Senshi and not the Moon Princess." She couldn't help herself   
with that comment, she just loved the look that would come over Luna's   
face when she reminded the feline of all the danger she had put her   
through in looking for the precious Moon Princess. "Anyways it is nothing   
more than the glamour spell that Pluto casts to be Setsuna, only a bit   
stronger to hide by wings from both sight and feel.  
  
"A simple spell and I reconstructed the glamour that had served me so   
well before." Looking into the mirror and noticing her hair she continued,   
"Though, it would appear that it couldn't do anything about my hair, oh   
well."  
  
Then looking back at Luna, she noticed the clock behind the feline who   
was still laying on the bed and let out a shriek, "Oh no, I'm going to be   
late!!" And with that, she tore out of her room, somehow managing to grab   
her backpack as she flew by it at twice the speed of sound. Thirty seconds   
later she was out the door and down the street.   
  
That girl will never cease to amaze me. thought Luna watching Usagi's   
rapidly departing form through the bedroom window. Hearing a noise,   
she turned around to see a confused Ikuko wander into the room.  
  
Expecting her daughter to spend at least another day here at the house, she   
was surprised to see Usagi dash down the staircase and grab a piece of   
toast before tearing out of the house. Further, while Usagi still had the   
silver hair, she looked different as well. Her mind a little lost with the   
events from the past day, she had headed up stairs to see if she could find   
answers. However, the morning haze prevented any coherent thoughts   
from being formed.  
  
"She remembered how to hide her true identity with glamour magic.   
Apparently, the crystal showed her how to do it this morning. Guess she   
has decided it best to begin attending classes again. Thought we would   
have had to practically drag her to the school for that to happen, though."   
offered Luna.  
  
Ikuko thought about Luna's suggestion for a moment. "Guess the instinct   
of running to school is so engrained in her that when she saw the time on   
the clock the instinct just took over." she said finally. Looking over to the   
sleeping child, she moved to adjust the blankets some. "ChibiUsa can   
sleep for a few more minutes before I awake her. Especially since this   
clock appears to be running fifteen minutes fast." She said while looking   
at a suddenly slightly smaller Luna.  
  
********  
  
Standing on a building's roof, Ail watched the sun rise in the morning sky   
of this their new home. While he liked the beauty that a new morning   
brings, those thought also led him down to the problem at hand, surviving.   
Something drew us here, a different kind of energy. For some reason it   
felt so right, that it would finally be the one sufficient for the tree to live   
on. We are going to need to find it soon, and pray to the Great Maker that   
it does sustain the tree, or it and us not long after it will quickly face the   
Final Great Sleep.   
  
With a mental effort, he shoved his current thought track out of his mind;   
he did not need to dwell on those morbid thoughts this early in the   
morning. He had come out here to enjoy the morning sky before beginning   
the day's activities of integrating themselves into society with the natives.   
Deciding that he needed an activity that would engage his mind a bit more   
than admiring the rising sun, he looked down at the street to watch the   
simple-minded inhabitants of this planet begin their day. Noticing one in   
particular who was moving down the sidewalk at quite a clip, sending   
pedestrians flying in every which direction, a smile came to his face.  
  
Looking down at his wrist at the simple chronometer, he had picked up on   
the street earlier this morning he realized he was going to have to head   
back to the apartment he and his love had appropriated. Turning and   
walking towards the middle of the roof he prepared to teleport when a   
wave of energy crashed into him. The feeling was like a sudden gust of   
wind, but not a harsh one, instead a real warm, gentle, reassuring one. The   
result was that he felt suddenly refreshed, a bit stronger.  
  
Heading back to the edge of the roof he tried to figure out what had caused   
the wave of energy, but was unable to find its source. Concentrating a   
little harder, he noticed that each of the humans had some of that   
wonderful energy wrapped around themselves. Could it be that the   
humans are the cause of this energy? While harnessing the cause of that   
strong blast I felt would be preferable, just draining energy from these   
humans should also obtain the same result. He would need to tell Ann   
his findings later today, but now he had class. And if he did not want to   
have to see how well he and Ann would hold up against an entire city   
sized angry mob, he better not blow his cover.   
  
********  
  
In an alley, a rip opened up in the fabric of the universe and out stepped   
Pluto. Walking out of the alley, she shifted to her Setsuna-self while the   
rip closed back upon itself. Heading down the street amongst the throng of   
people clogging the sidewalks, she noticed a caf‚. In the original timeline,   
she would frequent this caf‚ quite a bit in a few months as she prepared   
and then aided in the fight against the Death Busters. She really liked the   
tea they prepared here; somehow always making it, just the way she   
wanted it. Though know one else knew it, she had on a couple of   
occasions momentarily left another part of time to come here and relax   
with a cup of tea from this place.  
  
With her cup of tea and the day's paper, she sat down in her favorite seat   
by the window. First order of business for her was to check the date on the   
paper to ensure that yes time had flowed in her absence as she thought it   
should. She did not know why, but she never had good control of exactly   
when she would reenter the time-stream. At first she had thought it was   
her queen preventing her, but of late she had come to realize it was just   
some artifact of the way the universe worked and the nature of her power.   
With some relief, she saw that the date on the paper indicated that only a   
couple of days had passed, no new monkey wrenches yet into her duties.   
With all the damage done to the time-stream of late and then that little   
battle at the North Pole, she would not have been surprised if the gate had   
deposited her months from now.  
  
Taking another sip of her tea, Setsuna looked up just in time to see her   
princess dart by. A large smile growing on her face, she leaned back and   
relaxed. Another of her major worries had just been satisfied. Now was a   
critical juncture again in the flow of time. Some branches would destroy   
the reborn kingdom before it ever happened. And, some would give that   
kingdom's ruler the time necessary to mature into her powers. Thankfully   
it appeared, that at least for now, the river of time had chosen give her that   
time; her Princess had relearned glamour magic.  
  
Bringing the cup up for another sip, she paused for a moment to revel in   
its warmth. The aromas made her think of the Utopia of Crystal Tokyo,   
which Usagi would bring about. The steam coming off the cup reminded   
her of the way that time was supposed to flow. But even as she was   
reassuring herself with those thoughts, the gently rising steam gave way to   
chaotic patterns as the liquid began to boil. Quickly releasing her hand, the   
cup fell only a few centimeters before the porcelain still in mid drop   
shattered, spraying hot tea everywhere.  
  
Standing up quickly, a time ripple passed through Setsuna, causing her to   
falter for a moment. Time ripples in themselves were not dangerous; they   
were merely warnings of what might be. Some places at times seemed to   
attract them and trained individuals might even be able to occasionally   
summon them. But for the unprepared, they were unnerving, since they   
tended to have a hallucinogenic effect with sensations that were even more   
vivid than real life as they passed through an individual.  
  
Shaken, but knowing she needed to find out all she could from this ripple,   
she summoned the Garnet Orb and flung it into the room of the caf‚ while   
her glamour fell. The pulsing orb caused the ripple to become visible to   
the naked eye with a reddish ting. The two locked together in an embrace   
of energy; the ripple began to slowly be drawn toward the garnet orb while   
the pulses of the orb sped up. Very quickly, the pulses of the orb became   
continuous and then it had absorbed the ripple. Reaching out her hand,   
Pluto retrieved the orb and returned it to its place on her staff. Placing   
some yen to cover the cost of the shattered cup, she left the caf‚ and its   
bewildered patrons.  
  
Desiring expediency, Pluto opened a portal as she stepped out of the caf‚   
leaving the busy streets of the Tokyo for that forested land she liked to   
frequent. Once again removing the Garnet Orb from her staff, she held it   
in her hand and commanded it to release the time ripple. This time in   
command, she reached out her hand and felt the time energies of the   
ripple, opening her mind to how they flowed.  
  
Fear and dread again hit her; she could clearly feel the despair that would   
befall the world and even the Cosmos, should the Messiah of light get a   
hold of the Holy Grail. The displaced fragment of time twisted and   
showed her a different portion of time's river. With a half laugh, indicative   
of her recognition of the universe's sadistic humor, she released it, "You   
don't actually expect me to help that fool, do you?" she asked of the   
universe.   
  
Grapping her staff, the Orb settled into place. Releasing the ripple from   
the hold the orb held on it, she watched for a moment as it began drifting   
once again. But only for a moment, as she brought her staff around and   
with the howls of time released a Dead Scream. Getting at least some   
satisfaction she watched as her attack obliterated a most annoying time   
ripple. Turning and walking through the forest towards Tokyo, she   
grumbled a bit to herself about what the ripple had shown her. She hoped   
the five hour walk back to the city would be sufficient time for her to calm   
down, since right now she was apt to blast one of those annoying stupid   
people on the streets, which no city seemed to be without.  
  
********  
  
Becoming aware of a missing presence in the bed, a small child awoke.   
Rolling to the side of the bed, she opened her eyes to look for her mom.   
Not seeing her, and knowing how much her mother liked to sleep, worry   
began to creep into her. Pulling her robe on, she headed out of the room to   
search for her mother. Not finding her in the bathroom made her worry   
even more, and so she padded down the stairs.  
  
Downstairs cleaning, Ikuko looked up in time to see the small child,   
somehow looking even more kawaii than normal, walk softly into the   
room. While the child attempted to hide it, some fear did show through   
onto her face.  
  
"Sleep well ChibiUsa?" Ikuko asked. When the small child nodded she   
continued, "Usagi actually managed to wake up in time for school today.   
According to Luna, she used some kind of glamour magic to hide her   
rather unique features."  
  
"Usagi went to school?" asked a slightly incredulous ChibiUsa.  
  
"Yep, didn't believe it myself at first either."  
  
"Guess I should go to school as well." said ChibiUsa, though one could   
easily tell from the tone of her voice that she was not too excited about   
that option.  
  
"If you would like, though probably should do something about that   
Crescent Moon first." suggested Ikuko.  
  
"What crescent moon?" asked ChibiUsa as the said mark faded from view.  
  
"How did you?" asked a puzzled Ikuko.  
  
"Mother showed me how when I was younger. I had wanted to know how   
she hid her wings and crescent moon when she wanted to disappear out   
into Tokyo. Momma really doesn't change that much in the future; she is   
still Usagi, hates doing work. Drives Venus and Mars nuts every time she   
pulls one of her disappearing acts."  
  
The last little bit caused Ikuko to laugh a bit. Shaking her head, Why am   
I not surprised? she thought to herself. "Come lets get you some   
breakfast and then I can take you to school when I head out to do my   
shopping.  
  
********  
  
"Oh I'm sooo late." Cried Usagi as she sped down the sidewalk. A little   
ahead of her, an employee of a pet store was just finishing putting a cage   
with some puppies out on the sidewalk to attract customers. "Ooh they're   
so cute." Usagi cried when she saw the puppies. School forgotten, she   
plopped herself down in front of the cage to play with the puppies.   
Cuddling one of them in her arms she looked up at the clock inside the   
store and noticed that she had plenty of time left. Not really remembering   
what time she left the house, she guessed that she must have just read the   
clock in her room wrong and went back to playing with the puppies.  
  
********  
  
Umino sat at his desk reviewing his information. He prided himself on the   
completeness of his information network; nothing happened with respect   
to anyone at school that he did not hear wind of before everyone else.   
Unlike others who traded gossip, he liked to know the why to go along   
with the interesting facts. Hence, Mizuna-san's behavior the other day was   
causing him pains. Normally she would have finished her exam in record   
time, but she just sat there staring out into space for more than half the   
exam time. His network even indicated that she did not finish the exam;   
the posting of the results later today would confirm that bit.  
  
Hearing the first bell ring, he looked up and noticed that Usagi was not yet   
present. Though, if she held true to her normal form and not like the way   
she had been acting recently, she would arrive slightly after the second   
bell. Usagi she was also driving him nuts. He had thought he had her all   
figured out, and then with the arrival of that little kid things just started   
becoming weird.  
  
ChibiUsa, real name Tsukino Usagi, apparently a cousin of Usagi,   
however, his search of public records had failed to reveal what relative of   
Usagi was the parent of said child. The two were alike enough to be   
sisters, so the relationship between the two could not be very distant.   
Additionally the two of them had a very strong bond, with the child   
wanting to come with Usagi to this school for comfort. In addition to all   
the questions that ChibiUsa raised, there was the issue of Chiba-san. First,   
the two utterly hated each other and now they were acting as if they had   
been in love for the past centaury.  
  
The door being practically ripped off its hinges while a slightly out of   
breath person ran in just as the second bell rang, announced the arrival of   
Usagi. Looking up, Umino's eyes bulged for a moment as he noticed her   
hair. Silver hair? Strange, but ok. Moving his hand to write this down in   
his book, he paused for a moment before continuing. For some reason I   
have to say silver is her natural hair color, the golden blond must have   
been dyed. Wonder why she choose to stop dyeing her hair?  
  
Taking her usual seat in the middle of the classroom, Usagi began to catch   
her breath. Who would have thought it was so far from the pet store to   
here. Looking up she noticed that Haruna-sensei was not yet in the room.   
About to ask Umino if he knew where Haruna was, the door to the   
classroom opened and Haruna came in leading another girl.  
  
"Class this is Ginga Natsumi, she and her brother just moved here. She is   
going to be in your class. Ginga-san why don't you take that empty seat to   
the left of Usagi."  
  
********  
  
A little earlier in the day outside the Juuban district, a child woke up to   
greet the sun. With the ample light given off by the lanterns in her   
otherwise dark room, she got herself dressed in her usual outfit. But then   
as she was heading to the door, she remembered yesterday's surprise from   
her father. With joy, she walked back to her closet while removing her   
current clothing selection and dropping it all along her path to the closet.   
Arriving at the closet she removed a hanger and held it up in front of   
herself, not believing that she was finally getting her wish to wear the   
uniform it contained once again.  
  
Bouncing down the stairs, the now very bright-eyed child greeted Eudial   
and went to get some breakfast for herself. Quietly humming, Hotaru ate   
while her legs swung. Eudial looked up from her breakfast and noticed the   
good mood. Eudial was happy for the child. Finally, fate was beginning to   
deal the child a good hand, just as long as the bad feelings she had about   
the professor's lab did not materialize.  
  
Once the two of them finished their breakfast, Eudial brought out Hotaru's   
satchel for school and then the two headed out of the house. As they left   
the house a very energetic Hotaru walked beside Eudial, a child who was   
barely able to contain her excitement about finally being healthy again,   
having associated being healthy with being able to attend school. Coming   
in sight of the school, Hotaru's pace slowed till she now walked slightly   
behind Eudial.  
  
"What's wrong Hotaru?" Eudial asked. When Hotaru did not reply she   
continued, "Don't worry it is perfectly normal to feel a bit nervous and   
scared on your first day of school. I am sure everything will be fine. This   
is a different school, no one will know about your illness. Plus you have   
been getting a lot better lately. I am sure you will find others here like   
your friend ChibiUsa."  
  
Hotaru looked up the older woman and tried to put a smile on her face,   
succeeding only slightly. Internally she kept telling herself that this is what   
she wanted. But a nagging part of her mind kept reminding her about the   
last time she was in school, about how everyone was scared of her. How   
she would apparently go berserk and hurt her classmates and then   
completely blackout, never recalling any of it. However, another part of   
her kept telling her that she had to do this, that she could not turn back.   
She was not sure why, but when she focused on that feeling she got a   
momentary burst of strength.  
  
Far too quickly, they arrived at the gates of the school. Giving Eudial a   
quick hug, she picked up her bag and hurried up the steps joining the other   
students. Looking at the sheet her father given her last night, she headed   
towards the principal's office. Steeling herself, she reached up and opened   
the door to the school's main office and walked up to the receptionist's   
desk.  
  
********  
  
Classes over till after lunch, Seijuurou got up from his desk and headed   
towards the door. As was his habit before they had to flee, he pulled out a   
flute like instrument and brought it to his lips and began playing. Behind   
him entranced by the music and his good looks, the girls of the class   
followed him, each wanting a just to get this hunky new guy to notice   
them. The little following of his continued to grow, as students searched   
out the source of the song he played.  
  
Occasionally one of the girls would get the courage and try their luck in   
talking to him. But, in each case, he gave no indication of even knowing   
that they were there. In many ways that was the truth of the matter, he   
could care less about their advances. The females on this planet would   
never hold any interest to him; he had his love, Ann.   
  
Turning around a corner and quickly sidestepping into a room, he lost his   
fan club. Sensing a presence in front of him, he stopped playing and   
looked up, bringing the instrument down from his lips. There standing in   
front of him was a girl with a very peculiar hair color, silver.  
  
"That was a very nice song you were playing. I wish I was that good at   
anything. You must be knew here what is your name?" she asked. Then   
reaching one of her hands behind her head she let out a little laugh as she   
realized something. "Oops, heeee. How rude of me, asking for your name   
before giving you mine. My name is Tsukino Usagi, but just call me   
Usagi-chan."  
  
Seijuurou was taken back by this girl that stood in front of him. For   
starters, she was one of the few who did not go all starry eyed over him.   
And secondly, he sensed something was different about her. He could not   
place it, but he felt much more kinship with her than with anyone else he   
had come across so far on this planet. For the first time the loneliness of   
having fled his home planet and having Ann as his only companion was   
gone. So, unlike all the other times, this time he began talking.  
  
"My name is Ginga Seijuurou."  
  
********  
  
Walking outside the building looking for her "brother" Natsumi looked in   
one of the windows of the school and finally found him. But instead of   
seeing him alone as she expected to find him, she saw him having a   
conversation with one of the females of this planet. Trying to discern who   
that other girl was, she suddenly felt a wave of energy wrapped around   
that child. Uncertainty combined with the fear she had grown up before   
the tow of them fled, What if that girl steals Ail away from me? I am   
going to have to watch her closely and maybe eliminate her.  
  
********  
  
With the ringing of the bell, the teacher let her students out to lunch. Not   
in any real hurry, Hotaru began getting up from her desk. While the   
morning had not really been bad in any way, it was neither that great. The   
problem was that while the other students did not look at her with fear or   
such, neither did they really include her either. Consequently she was   
beginning to feel a little lonely and out of place. She was used to feeling   
lonely, but that was when she was at home and alone. Being lonely in a   
place filled with other children made her loneliness much worse. In   
addition, the others seemed to look at her funny, in respect to her very pale   
skin.  
  
Grabbing her school bag, she left the classroom. With her head down, she   
began walking towards one of the building's exit to head out to eat her   
lunch. A sudden high-pitched squeal brought her to an abrupt stop.  
  
"Hotaru-chan!" cried a certain pink haired child, who now making a   
beeline to the stunned girl.  
  
Recovering, Hotaru turned and looked up, and reciprocated the squeal,   
"ChibiUsa-chan." And took off as well to greet her best friend. Meeting,   
the two girls embraced for a moment, before ChibiUsa began pulling   
Hotaru along with her to lunch.  
  
"I didn't know that you went to this school?" ChibiUsa asked. "Isn't this   
kind of far from your house?" she asked a moment later.  
  
"Hai, it is a bit far. This is my first day here. Poppa decided I was well   
enough to attend school with other kids again." Hotaru replied with a big   
smile on her face. "I am going to this one, as everyone here will be new."  
  
"I think its great." ChibiUsa replied as she pulled her friend towards her   
favorite spot to eat lunch. "Now we can hang out together during school as   
well."  
  
"Hai!" Hotaru enthusiastically replied, her day suddenly looking a lot   
brighter.  
  
********  
  
Ail and Ann stood on a branch of a large tree overlooking a daycare   
center. With school over for the day, the two had headed out looking for   
energy. They still had some energy reserves from the trip, which was good   
as other wise they would have had trouble making it through the school   
day. But, now that they were here and somewhat integrated into society, it   
was time to collect the energy they so desperately needed to live. While   
they were walking down the streets, the kids playing on the jungle gym   
outside of a building ahead of them had drawn their attention.  
  
Ail could feel the kids radiating the same kind of energy that had drawn   
them here to this planet. If they could find a way to tap it, their tree would   
be able to. Knowing what they needed to do, they had let their glamours   
drop and relocated themselves up into a tree. There hidden from view   
from others, Ail pulled out his deck of Cardian cards and fanned them out   
to Ann. With a telekinetic thought, Ann lifted one of the cards. Placing the   
others away, Ail brought out his instrument and began playing a tune that   
would bring the Cardian to life.   
  
********  
  
Ami walked down the street alongside Minako. She had wanted to spend   
this afternoon analyzing the readings she had taken the other night from   
the apparent meteor crater. But, as their leader, Minako had declared that   
Ami should take the afternoon off, something about no sense worrying   
ourselves silly till the new arrivals, if any, showed some hostile intent.   
There was also that bit about Ami needing to take a break from her studies   
every now and then. Consequently, Ami also learned that she was to   
accompany Minako this afternoon, not that she minded that much really.   
She liked children and once she learned that there was not going to be any   
opportunity to attempt to study those readings, she actually began looking   
forward to the afternoon's activities.  
  
The particular daycare center that Minako occasionally helped at was   
located next to one of the elementary schools, allowing it to share the   
same playground equipment. The kids were currently outside playing on   
that equipment. One of the caught sight of their favorite helper and called   
to the others. Rushing over to the fence, they all began to wave, and   
Minako returned their waves by flashing her trademarked V-sign.  
  
Ami who had been walking beside Minako paused in her step when a   
delicate melody played by a flute like instrument began drifting through   
the air. "That kind of sounds like the instrument and melody that [Ail]-san   
was playing today."  
  
Minako noticing that her blue haired friend was no longer with her turned   
to question Ami on why she had stopped. However, she did not get a   
chance, as Ann's chosen Cardian chose that moment to roar to life and   
make it way to the now panicking children. Spotting a nice sized group of   
kids, it unleashed a blast, draining them of all their energy.  
  
The sight of children dropping to the ground like a sack of potatoes,   
snapped the two Senshi out of their daze, and with a cry of "Iie", they   
called upon the powers of their respective planets, Minako in the process   
tossing the basket she carried into the bushes. Empowered by the energy   
that was theirs to command the two warriors took off towards the battle   
scene, Venus heading towards the creature, while Mercury raced towards   
the children.  
  
A quick scan with her visor and computer in passing told her that the   
drained children were fine for the time. Continuing her dash, Mercury   
placed herself between the monster and the remaining children.   
"Shabon." Mercury began and then after only a moment of hesitation   
added, "Shield!" and unleashed her mist attack, which quickly solidified   
into a shield, like the one that she had created during that previous battle   
during the early morning hours.   
  
The Cardian had not wasted any time in unleashing a second attack, but   
this time its attack never reached the children. Instead, the shield of perfect   
ice crystals blocked and dissipated the attack before vanishing. Seeing its   
attack blocked, the Cardian gave a roar of rage and looked to find the one   
that dared to interfere. However, it did not get the chance, as more   
immediate threat presented itself.  
  
"How dare you attack these defenseless children. Daycare centers are   
supposed to be safe, fun places for our children to spend the day. As the   
Soldier of Love and Beauty, in the name of the planet Venus, I will punish   
you!" Venus declared as she landed in front of the demon. Dodging an   
awkward lunge by the Cardian, she somersaulted backwards through the   
air to land outside of its reach and unleashed one of her crescent beams.  
  
With the demon's attention focused on Venus, Mercury was able to bring   
out her computer again, this time to analyze the Cardian. Hmm. this   
one actually does not appear to be that strong. We might not even need   
Usagi. Remembering the final battle up at the North Pole, Mercury   
moved to flank the demon and then unleashed one of her Shine Aqua   
Illusions.  
  
When Mercury's attack came, Venus had been in the process of dodging   
out of the way of some of the Cardian's attacks. Hence, her first clue that   
Mercury had joined the attack was the sudden cessation of any noise from   
their opponent. Landing and looking in the direction of the monster, she   
was surprised to see the demon encased in ice. Huh? she thought,   
having not seen Ami use her new attack during the final battle. Then   
looking past the monster-icle, she saw one blue haired scout who seemed   
to be pretty pleased with herself for some reason. Then making the   
connection, she smiled at her partner.  
  
Now we just need to dust it. While part of Venus's brain told her she   
should call Usagi to get her over here to dust this creature, the anger at its   
attack on these helpless little children was too much. Instead, all she   
wanted to do was to dust it here and now. Bringing her arm up she began   
the spell of her crescent beam, but then new casting words came to her   
mind in the middle of the spell ".Meteor Shower!" she finished. From   
her outstretched hand, her normal crescent beam sped toward the target,   
but then it began replicating at an exponential rate. The result was   
hundreds of beams hitting the demon all at once. Slamming into the ice,   
the energy of Venus drilled its way through the ice to burn away at the   
darkness enclosed within, till at the end only a pile of moon dust was left.  
  
Slightly drained by the new spell, Venus dropped to her knees. But   
rejuvenation came quickly as a pint-sized mob composed of the children   
who had been lucky enough to not be drained swarmed at her. Not   
wanting to disappoint her fans she picked herself up and flashed them a V-  
sign before kneeling down to answer their questions.  
  
But first, she scanned the area for any additional threats. Seeing none, she   
knelt down with the kids and calling over to Mercury said, "Guess   
ol'Rubeus is loosing his touch. We didn't even need Sailor Moon to dust   
that one."  
  
Mercury too had noticed the relative ease in which they had taken out this   
demon. Pulling out her computer, she looked back over the readings she   
had initially taken of the creature, and frowned. "I don't think that was one   
of Rubeus's Droids."  
  
"Then a left over from the Dark Kingdom?" Venus suggested.  
  
"No, its energy signature is different from the demons either the Dark   
Kingdom or the ones that supposedly belong to Rubeus."  
  
"You mean. ?" Venus asked trailing off, not really liking where this   
conversation was heading."  
  
"Yes we have a new enemy. While this creature was easy, that may be   
simply because they were not expecting any resistance. Now that we have   
thwarted one of their plans, I would expect the following creatures they   
send out to be more dangerous.  
  
"Wonderful, get rid of one bad guy and a new one comes to take their   
place. And, we still have Rubeus to deal with, and he has been giving us   
enough trouble with just those random attacks of his." complained an   
annoyed Venus.  
  
********  
  
Ail watched as the Cardian drained energy from the first batch of children.   
Grasping a portion of the collected energy, he examined it. He could   
readily feel a taste of that energy signature which had drawn them to this   
planet in this batch of energy. With a smile he spoke to his love, "This will   
do fine, a few more sources like this one and the tree will be rejuvenated   
in no time." With a final look at the energy, he sent it to join the rest of the   
collected energy in feeding the tree back in their apartment.  
  
Looking back at their Cardian, wondering why a second batch of energy   
had yet to be collected he saw two warriors facing off against it. "Huh,   
who are those two?" he asked out loud in response.  
  
At first, he and Ann did not concern themselves too much with the two   
interlopers, not expecting them to pose much of a threat to their Cardian.   
Consequently, they watched in amusement as the two attempted to face a   
magical being, which would surely be more than they could handle. But   
that amusement quickly turned to horror as they realized that those   
warriors were mage soldiers, in particular when the blue one encased the   
Cardian in ice.   
  
Disgusted Ail watched as the other launched an attack consisting of   
hundreds of energy beams, destroying it. Assessing the situation, "It looks   
like we are in for some trouble. It appears that this planet is not quite as   
devoid of magic as we first thought. With the presence of mage soldiers,   
are going to have to use stronger Cardians, ones that can defend   
themselves. Once the tree has enough energy, we may need to eliminate   
these warriors and any of their allies if we wish to remain here and not be   
hunted down." But, satisfied with the meager amount of energy that they   
did manage to collect, the two of them teleported away.  
  
********  
  
Diana walked the streets of Tokyo now in her feline form again. Now that   
she might run into her parents, the queen, or the Senshi of the past, she   
could not risk being seen in her human form. She was still having trouble   
understanding what Pluto meant by sleep-sickness with respect to her   
parents. But from all the time she had spent at the Gate with Pluto, she   
knew the importance of not disrupting the timeline. Turning around a   
corner, she saw Sailor Venus and Mercury reverting to their civilian   
forms. Knowing that her quest was over she began running over to them.  
  
********  
  
From where he had landed in the bushes, Artemis finally managed to   
extract himself from Minako's basket. Once again he had to remind   
himself why he let her carry him around in that basket, as since it was the   
only way she could smuggle him along with her to various places. But he   
was definitely going to have to have a talk with her about how to properly   
place the basket down on the ground before going off to fight, one of these   
days he was going to get hurt.  
  
Looking around he noticed only a pile of dust remained of the demon, and   
saw Venus and Mercury powering down, but he could find no sign of   
Sailor Moon. For that matter he did not remember hearing her voice at all   
during the battle. After a quick check to ensure that he was still in one   
piece, he started walking over so that he could chew out Minako and find   
out the story on this demon.  
  
"Daddy!" came the cry of a high-pitched child's voice. Three pairs of eyes   
turned to focus in on a little kitten that came dashing at Artemis. Reaching   
her father, Diana began nuzzling up against him.   
  
"Artemis how could you? Double timing like that." Minako accused him.  
  
"But. I." Artemis sputtered as he attempted to deny and get his mind   
around what was going on.  
  
-End Notes:  
-I guess better late than never. Two chapters this semester, not my   
best for writing. I basically completely stopped writing around the middle   
of the semester. So restarting took almost a week of just getting the story's   
tapestry back in my mind. But it is there now and ideas for the final battle   
have begun to float around. Lets just say there will be some surprises and I   
may be a bit evil ? (maniacal laugh). But Saturn lovers should like it.   
Everything for me ends this Friday, so by the time you read this story I   
will be utterly done with my Masters Degree. Then in two weeks I go   
looking for an apartment and move down to Wilmington, NC at the end of   
June. Should be fun, and hopefully I will have another chapter out before   
then.  
-B5 fans might have trouble placing the title of this chapter. It is   
the title for the new B5 TV movie, which is being produced for Sci-Fi and   
will air this fall. The working title of the movie is "The Legend of the   
Rangers." But since it may lead into a series of its own, the movie has its   
own separate title: "To Live and Die by Startlight." In this case, it is of   
course referring to Ail and Ann, who will live or die depending on   
whether or not they can find sustenance on this planet.  
-It only took me too many chapters, but Diana is here! Finally   
completed her trip, she has rejoined the Senshi. And, boy does Artemis   
suddenly have a lot of explaining to do.  
-BTW I would stay away from Pluto for the time, as she seems to   
be plenty pissed about something she say in the time ripple.  
-Spoiler Warning: Some of the later chapters are going to involve   
some elements from Stars. Can't say what, but they are critical for the   
final battle. Though they won't appear till at least after Ail and Ann are   
dealt with.  



	21. Interludes and Examinations

The Fragility of Time  
BOOK TWO: "Falling Towards Apotheosis"  
Chapter 21 "Interludes and Examinations"  
Author: etj4Eagle  
Email: etj4Eagle@yahoo.com  
http://www.geocities.com/etj4eagle  
Lasted Edited: 5/18/01  
  
Disclaimer: A reminder I own none of the characters of this story,   
all rights are owned by others. However, the unique circumstances  
of the story are mine. If you distribute the story, do only   
so freely and inform me of where you post it.  
___________________________  
  
Sending the little kids back on their way back to the school, Sailor   
Venus, while releasing her transformation headed back to where Ami   
now stood. A cry of "Daddy" grabbed the attention of the two girls,   
especially when they realized that the cry had to come from the   
kitten in front of Artemis. No longer looking where she was walking,   
Minako plowed into Ami.   
  
Blushing a bit, the two girls stood back up and headed over to where   
the two cats stood to get answers. Minako did not question the   
existence of the talking kitten. Instead, she immediately rounded on   
Artemis and accused him of double timing. An utterly confused Artemis   
just blubbered and was unable to mount any defense.  
  
"Now, now Minako, I am sure that there is a perfect explanation for   
this." Ami suggested.  
  
"Thank you, Ami-chan." Artemis replied  
  
Bending down to get a closer look at the kitten who was busy rubbing   
up against Artemis, she added "Though she does have a crescent moon   
mark on her forehead and she does speak. So there is a good chance   
that she is your child."  
  
At that remark, Artemis's features dropped. He knew that he had not   
fathered any kitten. Heck, he wasn't even sure if he could father a   
kitten with another Earth cat. Unfortunately, while Ami would see   
this as a mystery to solve, Minako on the other hand would be   
"teasing" him about it for the rest of the day. And then there was   
the slight issue of what Luna would do to him when she heard Minako's   
story. Sighing he dropped his head a bit more while walking back over   
towards the basket.  
  
While he was lifting up the kitten that had followed him and placing   
her in the basket, Minako finally remembered that they were supposed   
to be somewhere. "Ekk, we are late for being at the school." she   
cried out. Grabbing Ami by one arm, she dashed over to the basket and   
picked it up, not loosing any time. After walking for a few steps,   
she opened the top of the basket and asked the kitten. "By the way   
what is your name?"  
  
"Diana."  
  
  
********  
  
Having brought Hotaru home from school, Eudial was now walking back   
to the Academy. With the mysterious destruction of the samples two   
nights ago, they were now back to square one in creating daimon eggs.   
That name sent shivers through her body, but she was willing to   
suppress them if it meant finally finding a cure for the sickness   
that had plagued Hotaru ever since that accident.  
  
She would follow the professor into fire, doing anything he asked of   
her, her loyalty was that strong. Even still, some part of her deep   
down kept screaming at her to speak out about their plans. Why did   
they still need to use those eggs to create demons, and why were they   
now making stronger ones by merging them with Rubeus's droid   
crystals. She wanted to suggest they ask the Sailor Senshi for help,   
for surely they would be able to help them open the portal.  
  
But while those thoughts might always be flying around in the back of   
her mind, she would never seriously consider speaking them. The   
professor was always right and she would listen to him, even if she   
thought Rubeus was using him. At times she wanted to smack herself   
for not listening to those voices, but it was no use there was no way   
she would ever listen to them.  
  
Arriving at her office, she put on her lab coat and grabbed her   
notebook before heading down to the lab. Now assuming those "witches   
5" are any good they should have already started this next batch of   
daimon eggs. Entering the lab, she saw the two twins playing catch   
with energy balls. She did not want to even think about what would   
happen to the lab if one of them missed the catch. Instead, she   
headed straight over to the test tubes. Looking at them, they looked   
to be doing okay, and a check of the logbook showed everything to   
still be on schedule.  
  
Thanking the Kami for minor miracles, she hurried on out of the room,   
not wanting to be around any of the Witches 5 anymore than she had   
to. Arriving back at her desk, she noticed that a folder had been   
left on it. Opening it up, she found a report from the geology   
department of the sample she had given them. Hmm. Interesting no   
biological matter found at all, instead purely geologic material of,   
that's interesting, Lunar composition.   
  
The summery included a lengthy section on the pain staking work   
whoever had created this pile of dust would have had to have gone   
through to so accurately recreate what one would expect to find on   
the moon. The dust was unfortunately too fine for their equipment to   
be able to do an individual particle analysis, so the report's author   
had just assumed that the right minerals in the right proportions had   
been added to create the dust.   
  
Though I wonder, considering what happened, could it actually be   
moon dust? The existence of Sailor Moon just seems to be too much of   
a coincidence for it not to really be of lunar origin. Well,   
something for another time. Now that the eggs were through their   
first 24 hours, the chance of loosing the batch was greatly reduced,   
which meant if nothing else dramatic happened they would be ready for   
use in six months. Making the necessary entries in her notebook, she   
closed up shop and headed home to prepare dinner.  
  
  
********  
  
Up at the board, the professor using practically with the wave of his   
hand pulled out some complex transformations drastically simplifying   
the surface integral. The class looked on with amazement, wondering   
how they were supposed to come up with something like that on their   
next prelim. And then with another line he came up with the answer,   
one. Great, thought Mamoru sarcastically, another nasty integral   
which evaluates to just one or zero.   
  
To the delight of the students in the class, the time ran out for the   
day's lecture. With the sound of students moving in the hallways, the   
professor put down the chalk while reminding them about their problem   
set due at the end of the week. Mamoru like most of the rest of the   
class were still a board behind the professor, and spent the next few   
minutes rapidly copying down the equations. And then with his notes   
complete, Mamoru closed up his notebook and placed it in his bag. As   
he lifted it up on his shoulder and walked out of the room he   
wondered what Usagi would be doing now.  
  
Yesterday she had spent her entire day at home, since the presence of   
those wings made things a bit difficult. He had headed over to her   
place following the end of classes yesterday to see how she was   
doing. And was quite surprised that she was taking her new condition   
so well. He knew that if he were in her place, waking up with a   
different hair color not to mention now having wings, he would have   
freaked.   
  
But according to Luna, who had paid him a surprise visit during   
lunch, she had discovered how to use her magic to disguise herself as   
a regular teenager, though with the slight problem of the wrong hair   
color. So that meant she was able to attend school today, and would   
mean that she was most likely at the Crown Video Arcade right now.   
Most likely she was giving the Sailor V game a beating, poor Motoki   
for having to watch both her and Minako be so rough with that game   
machine.  
  
Thinking about his love always made him happy, and he was glad that   
she was perfectly content with now being Serenity. Of course Usagi   
was a whole lot better with handling all these sudden changes. She   
had taken finding out ChibiUsa was her daughter apparently quite   
well. He on the other hand was still having troubling accepting that   
he was a tuxedo-clad warrior. And even if he got over that part of   
his life, he still had to deal with the issues that being the reborn   
prince of the Earth brought up.  
  
He guessed part of his problem stemmed from the amnesia that had   
swallowed his childhood. Ever since he had awaken in that hospital   
bed he had struggled to piece together an identity for himself, never   
sure if this was who he really was. And now he had a past life to   
handle as well. A simple fundamental question for anyone is "Who are   
you?" but he did not have an answer.   
  
At least Usagi could look back through her current life and realize   
that her past did not change who she was. That instead the traits she   
had in her past she still had, maybe not in the same proportions but   
they were still there, and hence nothing had changed about her. He,   
however, did not have that luxury.  
  
He probably could have reconciled given time the Tuxedo-kamen aspect   
of his life. That job did not bring the past with it and did not   
require him to take a responsibility that he did not know when he   
would ever be ready for. As Tuxedo-kamen, he only needed to throw a   
few roses to help the Senshi out of tight spots and then give them an   
inspirational speech. The thought of those "speeches" made his   
stomach turn a bit. He always knew that he could never be a poet, but   
why did he have that urge to go and make that point clear to the rest   
of the world? Smiling a bit, he shook his head to return his thoughts   
from the tangent.   
  
Instead, he focused on what he guessed to be the real heart of the   
matter, his discomfort with being the Earth Prince. Whatever nobility   
characteristics he had had in his previous life must have been lost   
with his death, he did not feel like he was qualified to be   
considered a prince in the same light that the Senshi were princesses   
of their planets. Whereas Usagi was always going out to make other   
people's lives better, all he did was to torment hers before fate and   
ChibiUsa brought them together. It disgusted him when he would think   
about some of the things he would say to her and what was worse is   
that he knew that he would have continued right on along until   
something drastic knocked some sense into him.  
  
No, he didn't have what it took to be a prince, much less the prince   
of the entire Earth. How was he supposed unite today's nation-states   
under his rule. He would need to convince those who treasured   
democracy, to give it up, for those that yearned for conquest to be   
conquered, and for those that were locked in mortal struggles to set   
aside their feuds. And, then of course his queen would be a super   
powerful alien, as if the internal xenophobic tendencies of his   
people were not going to be enough to deal with. At least her angelic   
appearance might have some of those religious nuts falling to their   
knees, but what about the nationalistic ones, the ones with military   
might and nuclear weapons. Where ever he announced his attentions   
would become ground zero for Word War Three.  
  
Before he realized it, he was back at his apartment. Opening the   
door, he entered. Passing through his living room, he tossed his   
satchel onto the couch before continuing into the bathroom. Grabbing   
a washcloth, he ran it under the water. As he washed his face with   
it, he thought back to that final battle in the Artic.   
  
During the battle, he had felt a great energy at his disposal, one   
that would respond to his very command. He had a feeling that it was   
a familiar sensation to the Senshi, but without the requisite   
knowledge, he had generally been unable to make use of it. Closing   
his eyes, he tried to touch that energy again, but was not surprised   
when he could not feel it. My doubt must be preventing me from being   
in tune with the energy of the Earth.  
  
With his mind focused on his powers, he realized that he could feel   
his love's presence, much like he would if she was in battle.   
Intrigued he focused in on his connection and after a moment   
concluded that, she was indeed at the arcade like he had earlier   
suspected. A ripple of excitement quickly followed by one of   
disappointment flowing across the connection told him that she was   
playing that Sailor V game again, and had probably just had her   
character killed. Smiling at being able to sense his love so   
strongly, he realized that he was now able to feel her presence even   
when she was not Sailor Moon (he was sure that she was not running   
around town in her Senshi form). But he wandered why the change.  
  
When the explanation came to his mind a few moments later, he felt   
like whacking his head on something, of course she wasn't running   
around in her Senshi form, but for all attempts and purposes she was   
running around henshin. Usagi, the normal junior high teenager, no   
longer existed. Instead, Serenity now existed, she might be able to   
disguise herself like the old Usagi, but she was still Serenity. And   
Sailor Moon was just the fighting form of his love, using her magic   
to form the protective Senshi uniform. And since he had somehow in   
the past become connected to Serenity, when Usagi before now had   
henshin and awakened her power he would feel his connection come   
alive. But, now with her power always awaken his connection was   
always alive. I wonder will I be able to tell a difference when she   
goes into combat? If not, we may have a problem, since Tuxedo-kamen   
won't know that he is needed.  
  
Leaving the bathroom, he decided he wanted to stretch out on the bed   
a bit before he started on his problem sets. Sitting in lectures all   
day tended to cramp up his legs some and just splaying out for five   
minutes on the bed could do wonders. As he plopped himself down on   
the bed he found his thoughts returning to the earlier   
dissatisfaction with being the Earth prince. Finding himself   
surprisingly tired, he began to drift off to sleep while feeling that   
his past self would probably find him a joke for all that doubts he   
had.  
  
  
********  
  
"Endymion what has you so glum?" asked a worried Kunzite.  
  
The young prince looked up from where he was leaning against a tree   
looking out over the valley. "Father keeps telling me that I am the   
Earth prince. But he is not the Earth king, our kingdom is   
insignificant next to its neighbors and like father, I do not believe   
in conquest. Yet he keeps preparing me for leading not just our   
people, but all those of the Earth."  
  
Understanding the confusion of his prince, Kunzite asked, "My prince   
let me ask you this, how old do you think I am?"  
  
The simple question posed by Kunzite quickly became very hard to   
answer, as Endymion realized he had no idea of the age of the captain   
of his guard. He would guess young twenties, but Kunzite had been the   
captain of his guard since his birth, and he himself was twenty.  
  
Seeing no answer forth coming from the prince, Kunzite continued,   
"Would it surprise you to learn that I turned fifty this past year? I   
have aged at only half to a third the normal rate, and that is the   
same with Nephrite, Zoisite, and Jadeite. Like the others, I was   
drawn here, not knowing why and arrived to serve your king soon after   
your birth."  
  
The young prince looked up in surprise, he had always known that   
there was something different about his guard. But, had never   
realized exactly what those differences were.   
  
Seeing the effects of his statements, Kunzite continued,   
"Additionally while each of us are soldiers, our skill with the sword   
unmatched, we are also mages. We are the only known mage-soldiers   
EVER, having a power that is not learnt but innate. Each of us could   
have been a king in our own right, yet we were pulled here to find   
our calling as the bodyguards and trainers of a young prince."  
  
"But how do you know that I am that prince, that something else did   
not call you here?"  
  
Jadeite who had been drawn to the two, gave a laugh in response.   
"That part is very simple: Beryl"  
  
"What does that witch have to do with anything?" snapped the prince,   
not disguising one bit the contempt he felt for the woman.  
  
Laughing again, Jadeite continued, "Why it is the exact same reason   
that you dislike her. She is attracted to power like a moth to light   
and she obviously lusts after you. With her power and your   
birthright, she could become empress of this entire planet. Why do   
you think she has humbly offered her services to your father when   
previous monarchs the world across would have to pay her a small   
fortune for a simple request."  
  
"Anyways your own powers also prove it." Added Zoisite as he joined   
the group. "Your mind is always in tune with the people. I have seen   
you diffuse situations that I thought to be hopeless. Plus you have   
the power to give and strengthen life-forces around you."  
  
Nephrite who had arrived with Zoisite added a warning. "But you know   
that with your power comes responsibility, the reason why Beryl can   
never be allowed to have the same. Use your birthright in vane and it   
will be lost. The people are not ready for a single ruler. Your birth   
means that the time when the people of this planet will be ready to   
be united under a single ruler is fast approaching. However, the   
stars also provide a warning, a great fire also lies in your path."  
  
  
********  
  
The king looked out the window and watched his son with a young lady   
by his side enjoy the setting of the sun. She truly did hover around   
him like the Moon did the Earth. The few times he had the privilege   
of being in her presence she had radiated warmth, love, and utter   
innocence. He had trouble imaging her as the same "devil" princess   
that Beryl would describe her as. Not to mention some of the things   
she had babbled about were utterly ludicrous, an empire stretching   
over the rest of the solar system with immense magical power and the   
secret of immortality.  
  
But the oracle had returned and with her fantasy had become reality.   
Once before the oracle had appeared to tell them of the destiny that   
lay before the child that his wife was carrying; a child that neither   
he nor her knew she was carrying. While he had trained his son to   
ascend and be the king of the Earth, he had never thought that the   
reason why this position was his and his alone was because his son   
was the physical manifestation of the soul of the planet.  
  
The old lady had confirmed for him the essence of Beryl's stories,   
though of course Beryl with her hunger for power had cast the people   
of the Silver Millennium as the devil incarnate. He had known that   
red haired devil of a woman to be trouble from the first day she had   
entered his court, but she was also by far the best mage known. He   
would have been remiss if he had not taken her up on her offer to   
instruct his son. He had been glad when he saw that his son did not   
fall for her charms, her way was not their way.  
  
He had not thought too much of her mood change when Endymion fell in   
love with a strange silver haired girl who had begun showing up on   
the castle grounds. He had not recognized her, but had assumed that   
she was one of the peasants. Unlike his fellow monarchs, his family   
never held to the supposition that nobles were above the rest; his   
own wife had been only a peasant as well. Though now the prophet had   
confirmed some of Beryl's more far-fetched rants, that Endymion's   
love was the princess of a kingdom on the Moon.  
  
According to the prophet, the loss of Endymion to this Moon princess   
had pushed Beryl over the edge. And washed in despair and anger she   
had summoned demon's to fulfill her desire to rule the Earth, by   
taking it by force. But she wanted to be unrivaled in her power, and   
was afraid that the people of the Silver Millennium may steal away   
what she perceived to be her destiny again. Hence, she would soon   
launch a simultaneous attack on the planets of the Silver Millennium.  
  
Turning back to the prophet, he asked her, "Is there anyway to stop   
this bloodshed. The people of the Silver Millennium do not deserve to   
become collateral damage in this war."  
  
"I am afraid not. As much as I would like to spare them the, I   
cannot. For the sake of the future it most occur." This she said   
while looking out over the balcony and then turning to the king she   
continued, "Now that the Four Kings of the Heavens have been   
enchanted by Beryl, they are her generals. There is nothing you nor   
Endymion can do." Lifting up her knarled staff she strove to the   
center of the room and then with the flick of her wrist, her   
appearance changed to that of an athletically built young woman and   
her staff also changed to reveal a metallic key design topped with a   
glowing orb. With a wave of the staff, a portal opened and she walked   
to it. Stopping for a moment, she turned and spoke. "One final thing   
my good king. Before the night is out, there will be a coup and you   
will die. I am sorry, but you will be remembered well" And then she   
was gone.   
  
  
********  
  
The king was then left alone with only his thoughts to keep him   
company. I knew Beryl was powerful, but never would have dreamed   
that she could have turned the four kings. I do not see what good   
could possibly come out of this war. I guess in freeing the planet   
from Beryl, Endymion will gain the legitimacy for his reign.  
  
So lost was he in his thought that he did not notice the passing of   
time. The next thing he became aware of was his son standing in front   
of him looking worried. At first, he thought the worry on his son'   
face to be indicative that the end had already started, but that   
thought quickly passed as he realized the worry to be no more than   
worry over his own state.  
  
"You must forgive me son, but I have had a visitor who brought me   
some most unsettling news."  
  
"Its Beryl isn't it?" the young princes guessed.  
  
"Your intuition is right as always. I am afraid there will be war   
soon between her forces and the people of your love."  
  
The last bit caused Endymion to pale a bit, as he was certain he had   
not told his father anything about Serenity, betraying her trust.  
  
"Don't worry lad, you did not let anything slip. My guest today told   
me all about your love and her people." After which, he proceeded to   
tell him all about the meeting with the prophet and his own thoughts.  
  
"I can't believe that they could be turned, they would rather die   
than serve her."  
  
"I know my son, but they have and she will soon be coming for you.   
And she will also attack the moon in an attempt to kill Serenity. She   
has gone mad; she may not be in full control of all her faculties any   
more."  
  
"What am I to do?" asked the prince.  
  
"Leave here, the sooner the better. If you can, try to get word to   
Serenity. I am afraid that the people of the Earth have betrayed you.   
Now go my son, I feel that time is growing short."  
  
The king ushered his son into a secrete escape tunnel and then   
triggered embedded explosives, sealing up the palace entrance to the   
tunnel. The explosions still ringing in his ears, Endymion raced down   
the passage leaving behind his father and the life he had known.   
Feeling the cold rock beneath his feet as he ran, he wished he had   
had time to swing by the armory and pick up his armor and sword. As   
it was, he felt naked being clothed only in his prince robes. Hoping   
for some anonymity, he shed his crown and the outer layer of robes on   
the floor of the tunnel.  
  
Turning down more passages, he passed through a magically enchanted   
rock face into a forest. Making a decision, he turned west towards a   
small village on the outskirts of his kingdom. Walking through the   
night, he arrived shortly after sunrise at the village outskirts.   
Entering the village a massive wave of uneasiness hit him; he could   
feel the anger and other dark emotions radiating from the people of   
this village. Walking in further he noticed most of the population to   
be preparing pole arms. This is not good; Beryl has turned my own   
people into her slaves. If they attack, they will be slaughtered. But   
she cares not for them, and if they delay the Moon forces long   
enough, that will be sufficient.  
  
Endymion had come here hoping to get some food and shelter while he   
figured out what to do. But he now knew that he would not find any   
friends here. He knew of Beryl's obsession with him, and was sure   
that as soon as she realized that he was not in the castle, she would   
send out search parties to find him. Staying to the sides of   
buildings, he turned a corner into an alley, hoping to find a cloak   
that he might be able to use to disguise himself with. Instead of   
finding a cloak, he found what could only be described as a monster.  
  
From his lessons with Beryl, he had heard her describe such beasts,   
but he had never seen one of these demons before. Fear welled up as   
the creature's gaze came to regard him. Walking backwards briskly, he   
tried to get himself away from it, but instead tripped over some   
barrels. Falling unceremoniously to the ground, he realized that   
whereas if he had not reacted, he might have gotten past that   
creature without alerting it, now that creature's limited intellect   
would definitely see him as a target.  
  
Rolling quickly to the side, and ignoring the pain in his arm as he   
came to an abrupt stop against the wall he narrowly avoided a jet of   
something extremely acidic that the creature had shot at him. Letting   
his training take over, he quickly got to his feet and dodged out of   
the way of the punch from the creature. A punch which managed to put   
a hole in the side of the building.  
  
Staying nimble on his feet, he tried to keep the distance between him   
and the creature short, while he came up with a plan. He did not know   
what he was going to do, but felt he had a better chance in dodging   
its punches and kicks than the acid it would spew if he got too far   
away. Plus at least this way he would minimize the threat that it   
might get some of his people with collateral damage.  
  
After five minutes of this dodging, he was no closer to finding a   
solution. Wanting to end this now, his right arm fell on its own from   
its defensive position to where his sword would normally be. Just as   
his hand began closing around where his sword's hilt would be if he   
had been able to retrieve it before departing the castle, he realized   
what he was doing and felt foolish.  
  
However, as the hand finished its grab, he felt it close around the   
coldness of metal. Not thinking about what he was doing, his other   
arm dropped, so that the hand could grab the sheath. Suddenly feeling   
energy begin to build in his body he pulled forth on the hilt, and   
with a miracle pulled out his sword. A golden shine reflected off the   
first glimpse of the sword's blade as it left the invisible sheath   
and then golden bolts of energy shot out into his hands and from   
their it embraced his body before fading faded away to reveal his   
armor and sword.  
  
The change in its opponent caused the youma to pause, unsure of what   
to make of this development. Seizing the opportunity Endymion moved   
in to take the offensive. Bringing his sword around, he swung at the   
demon. But, it brought its armored arms into to its chest, block the   
sword. Ducking under a punch thrown by the creature, he quickly moved   
to the side, looking for an opening.  
  
His eyes widening in horror, he saw it unleash one of its acid   
attacks. Unable to leap out of the way fast enough, he brought his   
free arm up to shield his face and closed his eyes. When the sting of   
the acid did not come, he opened his eyes to see that a shield had   
formed on his left forearm. Again not questioning his good luck, he   
gathered his strength and attempted to leap over the creature. With a   
summersault, he easily passed over it and landed back to back with   
it. The two warriors spun, to be the first to face and attack their   
opponent. But, Endymion's lighter frame proved to turn faster, and   
the youma looked down in surprise as it found its opponent's now   
glowing sword impaled in its side.   
  
A simple injury like this would normally not worry it, but for some   
reason it still felt fear. And, then with a howl of pain, its body   
exploded in a shower of rose petals. Watching on in amazement,   
Endymion watched as the red petals slowly fell, each one vanishing as   
it touched the ground. Shrugging his shoulders, he holstered his   
sword. While the rose was his favorite flower, this was just a bit   
unnecessary to the point of bordering on being sissy (not that he   
really had to worry about people teasing the prince of being a sissy,   
well except for his guard).   
  
Thinking about his guard brought him back to the present. Looking at   
where the demon had been moments before, he now felt a lot more   
comfortable with facing this threat. He would not let Beryl spread   
her dark magic over his people. For once, he actually felt   
comfortable with being the Earth prince, for he was their protector.   
And some how he knew it was the Earth itself, which had helped him in   
this battle.   
  
Moving his gaze upwards, he looked back in front of him.   
Instinctively, he once again grabbed the sheath of his sword with   
what he saw. Not a monster this time, but an army: an army of   
peasants. They were moving his way, and turning his head, he realized   
they were coming from all directions. And unfortunately, it was not   
the sight of happy peasants coming to thank him for freeing them of   
that demon. No, it was an army of peasants ready to turn him into the   
ex-prince of the Earth. Beryl, my battle with this demon must have   
alerted her to my presence. And now she is using the power that   
Metalia is giving her to send these peasants to capture me.  
  
Looking around again, he realized that he had already lost his war.   
Metalia's evil had fully consumed his people entrapping them in   
spells beyond anything he could free them from. Before he even took   
his place as the rightful prince of all his people, his tenure as the   
Earth Prince was over. But, he was not going to let her get Serenity   
as well. On the power of his planet, he swore that he would always   
protect her from harm. And maybe if her people survived this war,   
they might find it in their hearts to forgive his people and help him   
free them from the darkness.  
  
That still left the problem of reaching her. He had no way of   
contacting her nor traveling to the moon. But that did not concern   
him, nor the fact that the mob was only moments from reaching him.   
Instead, he looked up and gazed towards the moon and tried to search   
for his love. As he closed his eyes, the golden energy of the Earth   
began building around his body, causing the mob to pause in its   
advance. And then as it reached a crescendo, he opened his eyes   
again, smiled and in a bolt of golden light, he was gone.   
  
Arriving on the moon, he was surprised both by its tranquility and   
its elegance. Seeing some approaching guards, he leapt over a wall   
knowing it wouldn't due to be caught, especially if they did have an   
inkling of Beryl's pending attack. Glancing at the Earth he knew that   
the attack would come soon, the blackness had almost fully covered   
its surface. He needed to find Serenity, there was not much time   
left.  
  
  
********  
  
The ringing of the phone drew Mamoru back from slumber. Shaking his   
head to try and clear it, he picked up the phone.  
  
"Moshi, Moshi"  
  
"Hai, be right there."  
  
"Ja"  
  
Hmm, wonder what has happened that Ami wants me to attend today's   
Senshi meeting. Though, it does give me another excuse to see my   
love. He could already feel her moving towards the shrine. Getting   
up from his bed, he stretched to work out the stiffness from his   
unplanned nap. Stopping in the bathroom for a moment, he took his   
comb and smoother out his hair. As he did, memories from the dream   
played out in his mind.  
  
He was not sure what to make of all of them. Though they did give him   
some insight into his current doubts and thoughts. And yep he was   
right in his guess of his connection being with Serenity, and he had   
a feeling that he would still be able to tell when she went into   
battle. Though, now it would require him to pay a little more   
attention to feelings that came across the link. Before it was an all   
or nothing, but now he would have to listen for the feeling of his   
love entering a battle.   
  
Leaving his apartment, he was buoyed by the remembered memory that   
his past self was not comfortable with being the Earth prince either.   
Guess that I really am not that much different from my past-self.   
And maybe with Usako's help I might finally be able to come to terms   
with my destiny. I know that I am going to need her to unlock the   
parts of me that have been locked away since the accident.  
  
And with her help, I might finally one day be able to assume the   
mantel that is mine. But those uncertainties and doubts will not   
prevent me from fulfilling the oath to protect my love. That promise   
created the persona of Tuxedo-kamen, born out of my love for her, a   
persona independent of our respective nobilities. The Earth is not   
yet mine, and won't be until I am ready to assume my role as its   
ruler. When that time comes, by mask and cane will be replaced by my   
armor and sword.  
  
  
********  
  
Seven Planetary Soldiers, two princesses, a prince, and one cat   
arranged themselves in the room. Minako and Ami, being the ones who   
had called this meeting sat to one side of the room, smiles on their   
faces and a basket between them.  
  
"Ok, we are now all here, including Mamoru, what is it?" questioned a   
very impatient Rei. Neither Ami nor Minako had said anything about   
why they had called this meeting to order until everyone was there.   
Of course, that meant a ten-minute wait while they awoke Mamoru from   
his nap by phone and then for him to get there. The two had smartly   
kept Artemis in the basket, since one of the others would surely be   
able to pry the info out of that cat.  
  
"Well for one thing there was a monster attack today." Ami stated.  
  
Usagi was about to ask, why they hadn't called the rest of them when   
Minako spoke, "But that is not the most important thing that   
happened."  
  
"Huh?" was all the others could say, not knowing what could be more   
important than a monster attack.  
  
"We found out that Artemis has been double timing Luna." Minako   
stated with a broad smile on her face.  
  
A "Have not!" was heard from the basket.  
  
"You know Luna, you should have been more receptive to Artemis."   
Usagi stated. To which, Luna tried to tell her she had no feelings   
for that worthless fur-ball. However, as Ami pulled a small gray   
kitten from the basket, all talk in the room stopped. The little   
kitten with the crescent moon mark stunned every one into silence,   
everyone that is except for ChibiUsa, who suddenly got a big smile on   
her face.  
  
"Small Lady!" Diana cried as she launched her self over to her ward.   
"I have been so worried since I arrived here. I thought Pluto-san   
would drop me close to you, but I have been traveling for many days.   
When I heard of the increasing severity of the demon attacks I was   
worried that something might happen to you."  
  
ChibiUsa caught the kitten and after rubbing its belly a bit to calm   
it, she placed it on top of her head, in between her Odangos.   
Chuckling she decided to help out Artemis who was getting some less   
than complimentarily comments from Makoto and Haruka, and looking   
very fearful of Luna who was now stalking him. "This is Diana, my   
guardian. She is the daughter of Artemis and Luna." Then to Diana she   
added, "I did not know that you were coming back here."  
  
"You were gone so long, and I missed you, so Pluto-san agreed that I   
could join you in the past for you training." Then hopping down, she   
bowed before each Usagi and Mamoru and greeting them. "Konnichiwa   
Serenity-sama and Endymion-sama."  
  
And the traditional, "Ah, don't bow before me." was Usagi's response.   
"Just call me Usagi-chan."  
  
To which the little kitten hesitantly replied, "Hai, Usagi-chan."   
Earning a smile from Usagi, who promptly picked up the little kitten   
and began petting her while Ami returned the meeting to Senshi   
business.  
  
"Minna, the reason we didn't call you during this demon attack, was   
that the two of us were easily able to handle it. We didn't have time   
to alert you, before we engaged the creature, and then we were   
quickly able to vanquish it." Ami started.  
  
"Wow, a demon that finally doesn't wreck half the city before we are   
able to deal with it." Commented Makoto.  
  
"Unfortunately I do have some bad news. The energy signature of the   
creature does not match those of Rubeus's droids nor any of the Dark   
Kingdom youma we faced."  
  
"Then we were right." Stated Uranus, "An enemy from outside the solar   
system has come.  
  
"Hai, unfortunately that seems to be the case. I believe this first   
demon was weak, only because they did not expect any resistance, the   
next ones are going to be tougher." Ami continued. And then taking a   
deep breath, she decided she had to tell them about her readings from   
the crash site, and just hoped that she could get them to see them   
for the threat they were. "There is one other thing, I was able to   
make some estimates on the energy reserves the aliens must have had   
upon landing the other night. I believe they are almost devoid of any   
energy, and that they just barely made it to our planet."  
  
"Then this enemy should be a since to take out." Makoto   
enthusiastically stated.  
  
"Hai!" agreed Rei and Minako.  
  
"Iie!" Usagi stated forcibly. And then when she had everyone's   
attention, she continued. "If Ami's estimate is in fact the case,   
then these aliens are going to be far deadlier than Beryl or Rubeus."   
Seeing the blank looks on the others, except for Ami's faces, she   
continued. "They are not fighting to conquer now, they are fighting   
for their very existence. Push them too much and they will lash out   
more deadly than they would normally. Be careful if you ever face   
them, they might not run like our previous enemies, they may instead   
stand and fight even if they cannot win. And I will not accept any of   
you being seriously hurt again."  
  
The others felt their enthusiasm from a moment ago drain quickly out   
of their bodies, and they slumped back to the ground, now with a very   
different view of the situation. Now able to look at the situation   
rationally they began discussing strategy. Excluding Usagi though,   
instead she laid back into Mamoru's arms letting her thoughts drift   
back to these mysterious alien visitors. While her speech to the   
Senshi left no doubt that these aliens were indeed enemies, and would   
continue to drain energy from the people even once they recovered   
their energy reserves, she was starting to subconsciously doubt that   
assessment.  
  
Mamoru sensing the unease coming over his love, wrapped his arms   
around her. The action quickly had the desired effect, as her   
attention drifted to just enjoying being in his embrace. Now fully   
content he closed his eyes while the others continued their strategy   
discussions.  
  
Rei looked up from the table at her princess in the corner. Suddenly   
the memories from the previous day's vision came to her mind. As the   
images rapidly assaulted her mind, constantly repeating themselves,   
she let out a scream. Practically jumping to her feet while clutching   
her head with her hands, she knocked over the table.  
  
The others all looked on worriedly, unsure of what to do. Usagi,   
however, was instantly at her side, her glamour dropped. Sitting down   
on the ground, she pulled Rei down with her, and then further pulled   
Rei's head into her lap. All the while, Serenity rubbed her hands   
along Rei's backs while trying to calm Rei with her voice. Her wings   
had also folded in on the two of them, shutting them off from the   
rest of the world.  
  
A few minutes later, Rei was able to open her eyes again and lift her   
head to look up at Serenity. "Arigatoo, Usagi." she said.  
  
"Don't worry about it Rei. What did you see?" she asked "that is if   
you can tell us without being hurt again."  
  
"Its okay, I'm fine now, thanks to you." Serenity, folded her wings   
up back behind her while she let the glamour reapply itself. Rei, now   
feeling better sat back up, but did not leave Serenity's side,   
instead she let Serenity pull her back to her chest and felt her best   
friend's arms snake around her chest holding her much the way Mamoru   
had held Usagi only moments ago. Thankful for the support Rei began   
to tell them of her vision from the other day.  
  
"My guess would be that your vision deals with Rubeus." Luna stated,   
to which Rei nodded. "Rubeus is from the future, during the time of   
Crystal Tokyo. He must be getting ready to move soon, we already know   
that his target is going to be ChibiUsa and the Ginzuishou."  
  
The others nodded their heads in agreement. But for Rei, the   
explanation did not seem right, yet she could not really explain why   
or offer a better one. She was just going to have to hope that the   
Great Fire would be willing to give her more insight. Though she also   
hoped that it would not be quite so distressing as that last vision.  
  
Very quickly after the discussion on Rei's vision, the Senshi meeting   
broke up. Leaving the meeting, Ami thought back on what Luna had said   
about Rei's vision. If Rubeus is going to making his real move soon,   
then we are going to have to be ready to deal with droid attacks   
worse than any that we have seen before. Thinking about those   
attacks and useful Artemis's kitty com pack had proved to be, she   
realized that creating those upgraded communicators to be an   
immediate priority.   
  
Changing her path from one that would end at the library, she instead   
headed towards the Crown Arcade. But she was still no closer to   
figuring out how to make the large communicator design she had come   
up with to be small enough for them to wear. The task amounted to   
being as difficult as hiding those wings of Usagi's not just from   
sight, but also from existence. Wait that is it. Usagi was at school   
today, not just looking like a regular schoolgirl, admittedly one   
with silver hair, but with no evidence of her wings at all. What was   
it that she said she did? I believe she called it a glamour spell,   
which is supposed to be a very basic spell. Hmm, I wonder; can I use   
something like that with the communicators to artificially shrink   
their size?  
  
Reaching the arcade, she walked in and said hi to Motoki before   
walking over to the Sailor V game. A quick glance to be sure no one   
was looking in her direction and she placed her hand down on the   
hidden palm scanner and gave the access codes. A sudden drop and she   
was down in Central Control. Picking herself up off the floor, there   
has to be an easier way to get in here she thought while heading   
over to the computers.  
  
Sitting down at one of the terminals, she began pulling up diagrams   
and descriptions of their current communicator design. Too bad I did   
not have the time to work on this project when the princess had first   
reawakened my memories of the Moon's computer system. Finished with   
that information she began pulling up generalized documentation on   
Silver Millennium communication equipment. Then pausing for a moment,   
she launched some external interface programs.  
  
Activated, these magical mini programs were transmitted out over the   
worldwide communication network. Each one was a sophisticated   
scavenging program, capable of breaking through even the most complex   
non-magical encryption, and even some magical encryption. Ten minutes   
later, the programs returned, bloated with all their classified data.   
Smiling she added the military codes and channels they had captured   
into the communication matrix she was building.  
  
Humming a to herself the hours began to pass by, as she built up the   
new matrix. Three hours after she had started, she leaned back in her   
chair taking in the glory of the coding that was the matrix. Now she   
only had to figure out how to build the communicator to house it.  
  
"It looks beautiful Ami-chan." said a voice from behind her.  
  
Jumping, not having noticed the arrival of anyone else, Ami turned   
around to look at her guest. "Princess, I did not hear you come in."  
  
Frowning she replied, "Quit calling me that, its Usagi-chan." Then   
continuing with a smile, the reprimand forgotten, "And, yeah, I guess   
it's not like me to be able to enter a room with out making a lot of   
noise. Though, of course part of that is due to my wings, since they   
allow me to have just a nice gentle landing after coming down the   
entrance tube. I take it you are working on new communicator   
designs?"  
  
"Yep, thought it might be a good idea to have some improved   
communicators before Rubeus decides to attack again."  
  
"Your right. I take it you still have a few more hours worth of work   
left."  
  
"Yeah," replied Ami with a hint of some slight exhaustion and lots of   
eagerness in her voice.  
  
"Well before I let you get back to work, let me leave these   
sandwiches with you. Can't let you forget to feed yourself." To which   
Ami blushed a bit, knowing that if Serenity hadn't come by with any   
food she would have worked through dinner.  
  
"Arigatoo, Serenity." Ami said while tearing into the first sandwich,   
suddenly realizing how hungry she really was.  
  
"No problem." The silver haired princess replied as she walked back   
out towards the exit. And then stopping, she turned around and told   
Ami one final thing. "By the way I have told your mother that you   
would be working in the library till late tonight on a project." And   
then she was gone.  
  
Ami sat at her chair eating some of her dinner and just reflecting on   
her princess's visit. More resolved than ever before to finish this   
project so that they could better protect her princess, she returned   
to the computer monitor and began designing the physical   
communicator.  
  
  
********  
  
Pluto, under the guise of Setsuna, normally patronized the more   
upscale eating establishments here in Tokyo. But not tonight,   
currently disgusted with what she would have to do in a few hours,   
the amenities of those places revolted her. Instead, tonight found   
her in a darker noisier eating establishment. Poking at her bowl of   
noodles, she kept going back over the threads of time in her mind,   
trying to find that she had read them wrong. But every time she   
looked back over them, she came to the same conclusion. Finishing her   
meal, she paid her bill and left. Walking aimlessly down the streets   
she whittled away the hours before she would have to act.  
  
  
********  
  
As night set in to stay, Ami once again pushed away from the console,   
finished. Before her, on the holographic display lay the   
communicator. Checking the center's stored energy levels, she gave   
the commands to fabricate the prototype. Leaning back in her chair,   
she watched what appeared to be an oversized digital watch   
materialize off to one side of the room. Being disguised as a watch   
would allow them to always be able to wear it, and as an additional   
plus, the communicator call to others would appear to be nothing more   
than a watch alarm.  
  
To the non-mage, the watch was nothing more than it appeared to be.   
Only by dismantling would they find an indication that it was   
something more, due to the myriad of various sophisticated components   
it would contain. Though it would require a very determined effort to   
open it, since this watch was designed for combat wear, and   
consequently was enchanted with very powerful protective magic. Even   
another magical user would be unable to discover anything more about   
the watch, other than it was heavily enchanted. However, for the   
Senshi their planetary energy funneled into simple touch spells would   
unlock its secrets  
  
Of course, one problem did remain with the prototype, its size. It   
was a wee bit too bulky to pass as a woman's watch. But that was   
simple to solve. Putting the watch on, she cast a glamour spell   
changing it to appropriately match her outfit. The glamour spells   
would also allow them to wear the watch even when wearing one was not   
appropriate. Usagi's use of glamour magic the other day had been the   
break through Ami needed in making the watch small enough, as she no   
longer had to make it quite as small as she thought she would.  
  
  
********  
  
Knowing her duty, Pluto stood outside the main entrance to the most   
renowned high school in the region. A simple spell and time in the   
building stopped. Walking briskly, she entered, her unique powers as   
Guardian of Time allowing her to interact normally with this frozen   
world.  
  
A quick check of the school's directory sent her down some stairs.   
Finding what she was looking for she opened the laboratory door, its   
lock not denying her entrance. The lab did not look that imposing,   
but there in front of her lay an army. For now, it consisted of just   
thousands of test tubes filled with a purplish broth, but in a few   
months, each tube would give rise to a demon. If she wanted to, she   
could very easily lay waste to the entire Death Buster's army. But   
that would be too simple; no fate required her to do something else   
entirely.  
  
Raising her staff, the Garnet Orb began to pulse with energy. The   
time between pulses to her eye decreased, till they were nothing but   
a blur. But to an observer in the lab the time between each pulse   
remained the same, for their time sped up. Times passage in the   
laboratory quickly became a blur as months passed by in only a few   
hours. And then the pulsing slowed back down and time in the lab once   
again stood at a standstill.  
  
Her mission accomplished, but disgusted that she had to do it, Pluto   
turned and left the lab. Pausing when she left the complex, she   
unfroze the stand still of time, allowing it to speed up momentarily   
to recover the lost hours. Nothing however, could be done to hide the   
extra months in the lab. Satisfied that except for the strange   
happenings in the lab, no evidence of her presence remained, she   
left.  
  
Walking away, she braced herself for the imminent punishment from the   
cosmos for violating the rules once again, but it never came. Just   
wonderful, when I am forced to break the rules to save eternity I am   
temporarily stripped of my power if my actions help the Senshi in the   
short term. But if it helps their enemy then I am left off Scott   
free. Grumbling at the unfairness of it, she heads home.  
  
End Notes:  
  
-Well finally got this chapter finished. And yes, I know my pace this   
year has really fallen off. Unfortunately, it will probably remain   
slow for a while, but hopefully I can get the pace up to a chapter a   
month. Which will get a bit easier as the plot begins to pick up   
again.  
  
-Hope for the Mamoru fans, this chapter makes up a bit for my   
neglecting of his character. Problem is that there are just way too   
many characters to deal with and all keep straight. And, for those of   
you who are wondering, Father Morgan will finally return in the next   
chapter.  
  
-If you have a handheld, whether Palm OS or Pocket PC, check out my   
collection of eBooks that I have converted for them.   
http://www.geocities.com/etj4eagle I have converted some of my   
favorite Sailor Moon fanfics: Bill Harris's Sailor Trek series and   
soon Highlander Moon, Sailor Moon Millenials by the Judge, and others   
and more always coming. If you have a suggestion for me to convert,   
or have some already converted just drop me an email.  
  



	22. Hunter, Prey

The Fragility of Time  
BOOK TWO: "Falling Towards Apotheosis"  
Chapter 21 "Interludes and Examinations"  
Author: etj4Eagle  
Email: etj4Eagle@yahoo.com  
http://www.geocities.com/etj4eagle  
Lasted Edited: 8/18/00  
  
  
  
Disclaimer: A reminder I own none of the characters of this story,   
all rights are owned by others. However, the unique circumstances  
of the story are mine. If you distribute the story, do only   
so freely and inform me of where you post it.  
  
_______________________________________  
  
Many of Tokyo's denizens dreaded the  
arrival of the morning sun and would instead plead for, "Just five more minutes  
of sleep," a five minutes, which could easily turn into an hour. Others went  
about their lives as the sun rose, only absently noticing its presence; Eudial  
was one of these people. Of course, most of her coworkers would have only  
gotten up recently; her situation was rather unique since she lived at the  
Tomoe residence.  
  
Thinking back, she could not really  
remember when she began living there. She supposed it may have been before the  
accident, but unfortunately, memories from that time were a bit muddled. But if  
she had to hazard a guess, she would have said that the kind professor had  
offered to put her up till she could find an apartment. But of course, the  
accident changed all that. Now, the living arrangement was no longer temporary,  
in many ways she was the good professor's caretaker. She did not mind that  
extra job one bit; she loved his daughter and did not mind being around him  
either.  
  
As was normal for her, she had already been  
up for many hours. First getting herself ready, then preparing breakfast and  
finally getting the professor and Hotaru's things ready. Finishing with her  
breakfast, she washed her dishes. Then grabbing her stuff, she made one final  
check of the house before heading out. Thankfully, Hotaru today was going to  
walk to school with her friend and that girl's cousin, allowing Eudial to leave  
for work early today. She generally liked to get into work at least thirty  
minutes before the others, otherwise she found herself playing catch up all  
day. Though with Hotaru going back to school, she had thought, those days of  
being ahead of the game were over. But with ChibiUsa going to the child's school  
that thankfully might not be the case.  
  
Arriving at Mugen, she walked up the steps  
and entered. Passing down the empty hallways, she first headed to her office.  
Unlocking the door and sitting down at her computer, she brought up the  
previous night's security reports. Five minutes later, she had sufficiently  
satisfied herself that nothing seemed amiss. Of course, the same was true that  
morning that she had discovered months' worth of experiments turned into  
nothing more than moon dust.  
  
Well it was time to check on the  
experiments, to ensure that something else impossible hadn't happened to them.  
Walking down the staircase, she headed to the basement labs. Arriving, she  
attempted to upon the door, but it would not budge. For some reason it appeared  
to be stuck. More annoyed than puzzled, she decided to give it a good shove,  
which opened the door. Standing back she thought,   
  
However, those thoughts did not remain in  
her mind long. Instead, they were forced out by a repulsive stench coming from  
the room. Bringing her hands up to her mouth in a futile attempt to block the  
smell, she at first wondered if something had gone wrong with a batch of daimon  
eggs causing them to spoil (that being if they could spoil). Walking over to  
the benches to look at the test tubes, she noticed that they appeared to be  
fine. During this time, the wafting of fresh air in had made the stench a  
little more bearable and she came to realize that the odor was nothing more  
than stale air. she thought. Looking at the test tubes  
more closely, she noticed that each one contained an egg-like object, each one  
only a few millimeters across.  
  
With yet another mystery to ponder, she made to leave. While  
walking out, she absently ran a finger along one of the bench tops. Bringing  
her finger up, she was very surprised to see the amount of dust it had  
collected. The professor was a stickler for clean labs, but now looking around  
she realized that the lab had a layer of dust many month old laying everything.  
were her thoughts as she left the lab and  
turned off the lights.   
  
* * *  
  
Morning found Ail snuggled against one of  
the tree's massive roots with Ann lying against his body. Waking, he carefully  
disentangled himself from his love before stretching and then walking out into  
the apartment's main room. The night's sleep while refreshing still left him  
feeling very tired. A feeling that at one time he never woke to, but that was  
before the war. A war that he only had vague memories of, instead his memories  
were primary of him and Ann drifting from one world to the next looking for  
what scraps of energy they could find to keep the tree alive.  
  
Since their arrival here, its spiral into  
death had thankfully slowed. But it was still dieing and unless they could  
harness the energy that the inhabitants of this planet glowed with, it would  
die. It should have been a simple task to collect that energy, but those  
mage-soldiers had complicated matters. Now they needed even more energy, to  
make up for what they would have to spend fighting those soldiers. Ho had no  
doubt that at some point he and Ann would have to deal with them.  
  
Glancing back into the tree's room, he  
noticed Ann beginning to stir. Shortly they would need to leave for the walk to  
school, but there was still enough time to grab a little snack before classes.  
Hopefully that would clear out the remaining cobwebs in his head. Grabbing his  
satchel, he teleported out to the city. Appearing above the streets, he floated  
along at roof level, while he let he senses search for his breakfast. Finding a  
nice strong concentration of energy, he headed off.  
  
Setting foot on the ground, he once again  
reapplied his human disguise. Now appearing to be nothing more than a human, he  
headed up the library's stairs. Opening the door, he began his hunt for  
breakfast. His senses lead him down past row and row of books, till he arrived  
in one of the back corners. There at one of the cubicles, a student worked  
furiously with piles of books all around him. Ail could almost taste that  
delicious energy, which was wrapped all over that child.   
  
Sensing someone behind him, the student  
with his massive glasses looked up in time to see what had to be an alien place  
a hand on his shoulder. And, then he collapsed unconscious to his desk. Ail  
reveled in the wonderful feeling that the energy brought, though it was nowhere  
as good as that of those children the other day, but would do for now.  
  
Reapplying his disguise, he began to walk  
away. However, something made him stop and head back to the child. Reaching out  
a hand, he shook the junior high school student awake. "Umino-san wake up, its  
time to head to school for class."  
  
"Huh?" questioned a confused Umino as he  
slowly returned to the land of the living. Looking down at his watch he  
realized that the new student was right, if they did not leave soon they would  
be late for class. "Hai, we better get going. Arigatoo for waking me."  
  
As the two walked out of the library,  
Seijuurou decided to be social and ask about what was so important to bring the  
class geek to the library before school. "By the way Umino-san what are you  
researching here? You look like you have been there since the early hours of  
the morning."  
  
Umino ran a hand through his hair trying to  
brush it out. "Hai, I was. Just researching various things that perplex me.  
That and trying to understand what makes Usagi-chan and the girls that she has  
recently made friends with so special."  
  
"Huh?" Seijuurou replied; unsure of what  
Umino was referring to.  
  
"Don't worry if you don't understand what I  
am talking about yet. By the end of the month, you like every other student at  
school will now that there is something different about them, especially Usagi.  
Not different in a bad way mind you, or anything you can really put your finger  
on, which is what's driving me so crazy. There is just something about her, something  
that is more…" Umino trailed off at the end, not quite sure of how to put his  
thoughts to words. Part of his research had just been looking through various  
literature to try to find a way to describe what Usagi was, of course it would  
probably be a lot easier if he had something more than just feelings to go on.  
  
However, it was more than enough for  
Seijuurou. His thoughts immediately turned to the previous day with Usagi in  
that deserted classroom. How she had quickly breached all of his barriers and had  
made him feel at peace. "I know what you mean. There is something different  
about her, different from the rest of this planet's inhabitants." "I have not met her friends yet. However, I  
have the feeling that she will see to those introductions before long."  
  
To which Umino only chuckled, "Just be  
warned she also has a cousin named ChibiUsa, who is just like her. The two are  
so alike, and she is very protective of that child. It's as if they were mother  
and daughter." And with that, they arrived at the entrance to the school and  
parted ways, as each joined the corresponding stream of students heading  
towards morning homeroom.  
  
* * *  
  
As the sun began descending from its daily  
apex in the sky, Rubeus walked out of the Infinity Academy. Today was a good  
day indeed. Something wonderful had happen the night before and all of the  
daimon eggs had matured to their final stage of growth, give it a week and they  
would be able to begin the search for the pure heart crystals which contained  
the talismans.   
  
That scientist had mentioned that the power  
of the Grail had been needed to punch a wormhole through the universe to link a  
distant galaxy to this planet. Consequently, with their slightly less ambitious  
task of just opening a portal into the fabric of the multiverse, they would not  
need an artifact of such immense power. Which was perfectly fine for Rubeus, as  
the previous use would have destroyed it, and now he would be able to present  
it as a gift to the Wiseman as he came back into this world. The thought of  
abandoning the professor's original mission of finding the grail never occurred  
to Rubeus. Considering who would be awakened if the Grail were ever used, that  
was probably not a good thing.  
  
He also had a feeling that he would need  
all the help he could get to defeat Serenity. That colonist tyrant had nearly  
killed him in the backlash of her battle with Metalia. He was beginning to be a  
bit unsure if even the Wiseman had enough power to face her, but the Grail  
would tip the balance.  
  
He did not know why the Wiseman wanted the  
rabbit so much. He had the feeling that the Wiseman was more interested in  
getting that child than their goal of capturing Crystal Tokyo. Could she really  
be that much of a threat? Of course, she was the child of Serenity, and had to  
be at least as strong as her mother if not more so. Well not now but later when  
her powers matured. He guessed the Wiseman just wanted to eliminate the loose  
ends first before taking the goal.  
  
Of course with Serenity somehow becoming  
more powerful than she was in the future, what had that fool Beryl done,  
nothing was the same anymore. He had no illusions that he would be able to  
defeat her. Only the Wiseman stood a chance, and of course, he currently lay  
trapped in the rivers of time.  
  
The professor had a machine that could free  
the Wiseman. But it needed substantial modifications, changes that required  
money. And with the daimon eggs almost ready, that meant they needed the money  
now. But that foolish scientist with his pesky morals was refusing to use his  
previous source of funding, siphoning funds out of the school's budget.  
  
While that daimon controlled him, the  
professor did not question the morality of his actions. But now that Rubeus had  
freed him, that idiot did. Even worse,  
that scientist seemed to be constantly fretting about the funds he had already  
stolen. About the only thing that kept him from turning himself in, was the  
knowledge that if he did so, then Hotaru would never be cured of her "illness".  
  
Rubeus shook his head while he crossed the  
street. The best he had been able to do was to tell the professor that he might  
be able to convince his associates to give them some deals on the equipment  
that they would need. At least that fool was not a completely lost case; he did  
seem to be ok if Rubeus were to use some extra incentive on the underworld of  
Tokyo. But, Rubeus had no desire to do that; they needed the help of those  
people to get what they wanted.   
  
Instead, he needed to find a different  
source of the money. He unfortunately, could not simply go in and rob a bank  
himself for two reasons. One that fool would likely find out pretty quickly and  
that would end everything. Secondly, use of his powers was sure to draw the  
Sailor Senshi. He had seen too many battles in the past few months to not  
realize that the use of Dark Powers instantly drew the attention of the Sailor  
Senshi.  
  
Someone else was just going to have to do  
the robbing for him. Of course, he could always provide a very convenient distraction.  
And a nearby museum had just received a very nice collection of gems; ones that  
he was sure would very much appreciate a new home. As Rubeus walked a smile  
began to grow on his face, as a plan began to form in his mind.  
  
* * *  
  
Usagi looked up from her math exercises,  
only five minutes left before school was out. Of course, six minutes were left  
an hour ago. Sighing she returned to her drills. Classes were much more  
enjoyable when she had her daughter here with her. She missed having her  
daughter here, always knowing that she was safe. But, she also knew that this  
was best, the danger was over for now and ChibiUsa needed to live her own life.  
And there was someone at ChibiUsa' school that needed ChibiUsa even more,  
Hotaru.  
  
Usagi smiled happily, knowing that Hotaru's  
wish had finally come true, being able to attend a regular school with her  
peers. That child deserved a better fate than the one she was dealt. Like other  
times when she thought of Hotaru's predicament, Usagi thought of revealing  
herself to the child, to show her that she was not alone in this world. In  
addition, with these escalating battles, Hotaru's healing ability would make  
her a valuable asset as well. But just as quickly, she dismissed the idea. She  
could not risk making Hotaru a target for their enemies.  
  
No, Hotaru and her wonderful gift were to  
remain unused by the Senshi. But at the same time, as Usagi she would do all  
she could to make the life of that child more bearable. The ringing of the bell  
brought her out of her thoughts and back to reality. Looking up she saw that  
class was indeed finally over. "Yes!" she cried as she jumped to her feet.  
  
"Try not to look so relieved Tsukino-san."  
scolded Haruna-sensei.  
  
"Gomen, Sensei." Usagi replied dropping her  
head a bit in shame.  
  
As the other students filed out of the  
classroom, Haruna walked over to the most unique student in all her years of  
teaching. Placing a hand on Usagi's back she spoke to the child, "Don't worry  
about it Usagi-san. I know that you just miss having ChibiUsa here with you."  
  
Usagi looked up at her teacher, her eyes  
confirming Haruna's comment. "Hai, but it is best for her to be at her own  
school. Anyways there is another there that needs her more." And with that, the  
ever-energetic Usagi bounded out of the classroom.  
  
Smiling at the departing teen, Haruna  
returned to her desk. "Always thinking about others, you truly are an angel  
that will bring the world salvation Usagi. Thank you from all of us for saving  
us from Beryl, princess."  
  
"I will be sure to tell her that you said  
that." A female voice said.  
  
"Ah!" Haruna yelped. Taking a moment to  
calm her startled racing heart, Haruna turned around to look for the voice's  
owner. She had thought she was alone in the room. Not finding anyone her gaze  
finally came to rest on a certain black cat sitting on the windowsill. Smiling  
Haruna spoke, "Sorry about that, you startled me, didn't think there was any  
one else in the room."  
  
"It's my fault." replied Luna. "I had been  
waiting outside in the tree for Usagi and heard your comment, and so took  
advantage of this open window to let you know that your thanks is sure to make  
Usagi happy. Now if you don't mind, I need to find my charge. She mumbled  
something about needing to see someone when she woke up this morning." And with  
that, the cat leapt back out of the window and disappeared.  
  
"Yes got to remember the talking cat as  
well. She takes her assignment of being Usagi's guardian very seriously, though  
of course with Usagi one kind of has to. At least I don't have the others taking  
turns watching her during class in their Senshi forms. While that would  
undoubtedly be safer for her, it definitely would not be conducive to learning.  
Well learning about anything other than the history of the Silver Millennium,  
not to say I wouldn't like to learn about that once Luna-san and Miszinu-san  
get more of their memories back." She let herself daydream for a moment and  
imagine the havoc that would result should Makoto and Ami come in as Jupiter  
and Mercury. With those happy thoughts, she gathered her stuff, turned out the  
light, and left the room.  
  
* * *  
  
"Natsumi what is the purpose of going on  
this tour again?" asked a bored Seijuurou.  
  
Shaking her head, Natsumi turner to her  
"brother" and spoke, "we are knew here, and this is part of the program offered  
to new residents of Tokyo. So therefore we are doing like any good new citizen  
of this city and learning about it. Anyways I find these painting to be very  
fascinating."  
  
Knowing that he would not win the argument  
if he tried it, Seijuurou just nodded his assent and gave up. While he enjoyed  
making music and even listening to some of the human music as well, his  
appreciation of the arts was limited. But if it made Ann happy then he would  
oblige her. Though he hoped this tour would end soon, this morning's snack was  
already beginning to fade away.  
  
* * *  
  
Walking down the less popular streets of  
Tokyo, Usagi approached her destination. Stopping for a moment, she opened her  
mind one more time to sense the energies of the others. Good none of them were  
near her, not even Luna. She did not really want her guardian to be following  
her this particular afternoon and had been afraid that she was going to have to  
use a little magic to ditch her shadow. But fate had smiled on her and for once  
Luna had not followed her out of the school, she wondered for a moment what  
might have caught the attention of that cat. But figured that if it was  
anything important, Luna would be sure to tell her this evening.   
  
Reaching her destination, she slipped her  
feet out of her shoes and left her bag by the door. She already knew that there  
were currently no visitors and so would not have to bide her time. Entering the  
sanctuary, she marveled as she always did at the beauty of its stained glass windows.  
As the door closed behind her, she let her form flow freely discarding her  
disguise.  
  
Father Morgan was working in the front of  
the sanctuary when he heard the door open and close. Looking up to greet his  
guest, he saw a sight that stirred his very soul. There in front of him, lit by  
the afternoon sunlight an angel emerged from her mortal shell. Great white  
wings spread out from her back as her school uniform gave way to finer garments  
laced with golden refinements. And her aura was visible as a wondrous silver  
glow.  A glow that lasted for only a few  
moments before dieing down till it was but a golden crescent moon, which  
adorned her forehead.  
  
Forgetting himself, he fell to his knees,  
bowing at the sight before him. "My Lord" he whispered along with a prayer of  
thanks. Standing up he bowed yet again to the form that was coming up before  
him. "Messiah." He greeted her, though quickly adding "Usagi-san" at her scowl.  
  
"It's not prefect, but I guess I can accept  
Usagi-san for now, but you will eventually call me Usagi-chan. That is a  
given." Serenity said with a warm smile for the man before her. "It is good to  
see you again father." She said while moving forward to embrace the man.  
  
"It is good to see you again too" Father  
Morgan reciprocated as the two of them embraced. Moving apart, Morgan  
continued, "I gather that you were able to defeat the darkness that threatened  
the Earth."  
  
"Yes, though unfortunately Metalia was not  
the only darkness that threatened this planet. Another one from the future still  
does, and unfortunately a new one now does as well."  
  
"I could feel the difference in the Earth  
the morning after, and I am sure that you will be able to deal with these other  
threats equally as well. You are after all the Messiah, whose coming has been  
prophesized."  
  
Serenity wanted to argue the point, but  
knew that in her current form she did not have much ability to argue that she  
was not some angel sent from Heaven. That Lunarians did not generally look like  
her made it even harder. While she did not place any stock in herself being  
some Messiah, she was beginning to accept that she had this form for some  
reason.   
  
A bit annoyed at not knowing why she was  
different and what it meant, Usagi realized something. With Pluto's powers,  
there was always the possibility of someone messing with time. And that meant  
there might just be some information of use in those prophecies. Realizing  
that, the moon princess asked, "May I see that prophecy you speak of?"  
  
"Certainly my Lord. While there are many  
references to your coming in the various religious texts and that was what  
first alerted me to who you were, the secret text is the one that you really  
are interested in. Wait here a moment, it is in a safe in my office." With  
that, Morgan disappeared out the side of the Sanctuary.  
  
The angel looked up at a stained glass  
window that was framed in the front of the sanctuary. I am different,  
why? Before me, no princess of the Moon ever had the power of a Sailor Senshi.  
My fighting power is very weak, as it should be for one who is only the Senshi  
a moon. But when I use the Ginzuishou my power easily dwarfs the combined power  
of the Senshi, a power that I tap just a bit when ever I use my staff (either  
of them).  
  
  
  
  
  
The footsteps of the returning priest ended  
for now Serenity's contemplations. "Here you go." he said as he turned over to  
her a bundle of papers.  
  
"Arigatoo" Serenity replied as she took the  
papers. Sitting down on a bench, she read them.   
  
Sensing the questions that must be plaguing  
his lord, Morgan spoke. "Usagi-san, I am but a lowly priest and so am unable to  
help you find the answers that you seek. But what I can tell you is that you  
are the salvation that my faith believes in. You will bring your kingdom of the  
heavens here to Earth and in so doing bring us into an age of utopia.  
  
"But as to why you have your powers and  
what it means, that I cannot answer for you. If you are willing, there are  
those who might be able to guide you along the path that lies before you. To  
provide you with the support that you will need when your true nature becomes  
evident to the world."  
  
The last part Serenity had not even thought  
about. She hadn't even considered the reaction of the populace when her true  
nature was revealed, nor the very likely negative reaction when they found out  
she was the heir to the empire that ruled the Sol system. While she did not  
plan on taking her place as ruler of the system anytime soon, it was inevitable  
that the secret of her identity would get out. How long did she think she would  
be able to maintain the illusion of being just a normal teenager? Even if she  
did not consciously do anything to reveal her secret, the Ginzuishou might  
reveal her true nature if she ever found herself in danger. Her connection to  
the Ginzuishou since her transformation was extraordinary, it might not be  
alive, but it was a powerful magical artifact that was intimately connected her  
own being. Should she fear for her life, she was sure that would trigger the  
Ginzuishou.  
  
"Hai, I would like that."  
  
* * *  
  
Pulling into a parking space along the  
road, Kado and his two companions got out of their car. A few blocks down and  
then across lay their target, the museum. Moving around to the back of the car,  
they removed three cases, the supplies they would need.  
  
"Rubeus is really going forward with this?"  
Taro asked.  
  
"Yep, though I still have no idea how we  
are going to pull this one off. But if Rubeus says it can be done, then it can  
be done. Though I still would have liked to know what his signal was going to  
be."  
  
"Yeah, all he said was that we would know  
it when we saw it." The third member of the group, Takeo replied. "And what is  
this about us remaining outside till we see it, shouldn't we be inside the  
museum staking out the target.  
  
"No that would get us on their surveillance  
cameras, whatever Rubeus is doing it is going to make the exhibit a sitting  
duck for us to grab. They are likely to investigate anyone who was near it  
before their cameras go dark, so its better for us to remain outside till  
then." Of course, that didn't mean that he or his brothers in arms had to like  
it.  
  
* * *  
  
From where he stood on Tokyo's skyline,  
Rubeus watched as his men arrived.   
  
Reaching inside of his vest, he pulled out  
a crystal, while he had given the professor the majority of the crystals to  
meld with the daimon eggs; he had kept a handful for himself. Of those, this  
one was severely damaged, so damaged that if he was following protocol he  
should have destroyed it long ago. Consequently, it was absolutely prefect for  
this mission. He needed to create general mayhem, allowing an "opportunistic"  
jewel heist. An unstable droid should keep anyone from realizing that it was  
merely being used as a diversion.  
  
Giving the droid crystal its mission, he  
charged it with dark energy and threw it down to the street below. Moments  
before reaching the ground, its form pulsing with energy as it activated and  
then became a demon. Landing, looking something like a construction worker, the  
droid surveyed the scene.  
  
Decisions made, it began moving out.  
Unleashing a barrage of deadly safety cones at the nearby cars, it chanted  
"Construction zone, Construction zone." Bending over its arms touched the  
ground and became large wheels while the same happened with its rear legs.  
Rising out of its upper back, a large metal plow unfolded down in front while a  
hose like device rose up to face backwards.  
  
"Vroom! Vroom!" the demon cried as it  
revved up its "engine" Appropriately a large yellow hazard light began  
flashing. As it currently faced the wrong direction, it spun around in a quick  
semi-circle, not being too careful in avoiding sideswiping any shops. Now that  
it was facing in the right direction, it sped off with a cloud of dark smoke.  
  
Outside the museum, every sane soul had  
left for a safer location. However, the patrons inside the museum's walls were  
none the wiser to the danger that was quickly approaching them. Suddenly  
without warning, a wall suddenly bulged in and then collapse. From the new doorway,  
the droid entered the space exhibit, scattering scared patrons every which  
direction.  
  
A quick barrage of safety cones took down  
the patrons and drained them of their energy. The hose on its rear end pivoted  
around and fired of globs of cement, busting up any part of the room that had  
survived the original devastation and sending those who had found a place to  
hide out into the open where it could trap them with the energy draining safety  
cones.   
  
"Make way for the new highway bypass." The  
droid Constructor announced in a loud voice as it continued further into the  
museum, not slowing down one bit. Within minutes, it had passed through the  
entire museum, sending visitors and security guards alike fleeing. As a final  
insult to the museum, its cement cannon zeroed in on the security office and  
fired its projectiles, taking it out.  
  
* * *  
  
"Well that was a nice little tour." Natsumi  
said to her brother, who was obviously glad for it to be over. "And now I think  
it is time for some dinner, what do you think love?"  
  
Smiling, now that it was time for something  
much more interesting, Seijuurou replied, "Yes I think that would do nicely."  
Removing his deck of Cardians, he splayed them out for his love as the two of  
them shifted back to their true forms.  
  
As Ann lifted one of them up, he nodded  
approvingly. "Yes that one should stand a better chance against those  
mage-soldiers." And then he began the tune that would bring the card to life.  
  
From the card, a lion like creature emerged  
and landed on the ground. Looking up at its masters it brought a paw up and  
displayed its long claws. Divining their desires, it turned and began the hunt.  
  
* * *  
  
Walking the halls of the gallery, Michiru  
admired the work of her contemporaries. Prior to Pluto's arrival, one could  
often find her here doing just this. By walking these halls, she could for a  
little while escape and find peace, while at the same time nourishing the  
mental tapestries that she worked from. Unfortunately, the recent war had kept  
her from these halls. But with the current pause, she could once again walk  
these halls.   
  
Patrons in the museum normally spoke in  
hushed voices to each other, but suddenly cries of fear very much out of place  
began to ring out. The cries echoed up and down the many halls of the gallery  
preventing Michiru from knowing which way they came. Giving up on that sense,  
Michiru instead let herself listen to the raging seas. And from them she knew  
where the darkness lay.  
  
Not wasting a moment, she took off towards  
that darkness. Rounding a corner and entering a gallery, she came to an abrupt  
halt. Dozens of patrons lay strewn about the room unconscious. However, it was  
not that, which had brought her to a stop; it was the full-grown demon lion.  
And currently that lion was tearing into the last person still conscious in the  
room, draining his energy. While Michiru knew that the lion was only taking  
energy, the method was so violent that it made her feel sick. She additionally  
felt her normal confidence in fighting missing, for this one actually looked lethal  
instead of ridiculous.  
  
Finishing with its final victim, the lion  
looked up at Michiru and grinned with the anticipation of more pray to kill and  
began stalking towards her.  
  
Without a second thought, Michiru summoned  
her transformation wand. "Neptune Planet Power, Make Up!" she cried, and the  
energy of Neptune enveloped her.  
  
Stepping into the room, she somersaulted  
over the lion. Landing at the far end of the room, where she would have more  
room between her and the demon, she took up a fighting stance. Normally not one  
for the speeches that her princess and the royal guard liked to give, this  
atrocity called for one. "How dare you defile this place of beauty and peace.  
For attacking the patrons of the arts I will destroy you."   
  
Lifting her hands, the energy of Neptune  
pooled between the two of them and she ended her speech with two words, "Deep  
Submerge." As soon as the ball of ocean energy left her hands, she brought out  
her communicator to summon the others while the creature was distracted. The waves  
were far too restless for this to be a simple demon like the one that Mercury  
and Venus faced.  
  
Ami's face forming on the screen, the blue  
haired warrior asked, "Neptune was is it?"  
  
"The enemy is attacking the art gallery."  
Unfortunately, the demon had easily dodged Neptune's attack, and now charged  
the one who dared to fight back. The demon lion's attack forced her to devote  
her attention fully back toward the demon. A quick leap into the air, allowed  
her dodge that charge. But, the lion was not fooled, and upon landing, she  
found herself once again facing an immanent attack from the demon. Unable to  
take her eyes off the lion, less she miss its attack, as it paced the ground in  
front of her, she yelled into her communicator. "This one appears to be a tad  
bit stronger than the one you and Venus faced yesterday. I am going to need  
your help, and SOON!"   
  
A swipe from its front paws had caused her  
to yell the last bit into the link. She had not realized how close it had  
gotten with its pacing back and forth, as the swipe was only centimeters from  
her chest. Closing the link, she focused everything in on the enemy in front of  
her.  
  
This time she was ready as it leapt at her.  
Grapping the outstretched front legs, she attempted to spin the creature.  
Unfortunately, the demon's momentum was just too much for her light body to  
handle and instead of spinning, her legs slipped out from under her. Instead of  
flinging the creature into a wall and maybe getting the advantage for a moment,  
she fell to the ground. Worse still, the creature now lay partially on top of  
her.  
  
To her luck, the move did take the Cardian  
by surprise and the sudden fall to the ground had stunned it slightly. Taking  
whatever she could get, Neptune quickly rolled towards her right, escaping from  
under the creature. Jumping to her feet, and then a quick jump backwards, she  
managed to just barely avoid a swipe of the demon lion's claws, a swipe that  
managed to leave nice deep claw marks on the floor.  
  
Quickly getting to her feet she made a dash for the other end of  
the room, with the beast quick on her tail.   
  
* * *  
  
Kado and the others stood at the street  
corner waiting for the signal. While they knew the "signal" would have to be  
significant to allow them to pull off the heist as easily as Rubeus claimed  
they would be able, they were still startled when a loud explosion rang out.  
When the masses began running past them, they were quickly pulled up in it and  
ran for their lives.  
  
The droid Constructica only paused for a  
moment as she sped out of the building to take a sharp turn to the right before  
she shot down a block to begin more urban renewal. Of course, she took the  
opportunity to spray the fleeing crowd with her traffic cones, though none of  
them came close to hitting the three mobsters.  
  
After a few minutes of running, the three  
gangsters remembered their mission. Slowing down, they let themselves drift out  
the back of the crowd. With the crowd gone they turned back around and began  
walking back towards the devastated museum. As the reached the museum they  
opened their briefcases and removed their gear.  
  
"Well that is one way to get rid of any  
security forces." said an impressed Takeo.  
  
Picking their way over the debris the three  
entered into the museum. Even after seeing the hole it had left in the side of  
the museum and the damage it had done to the street they were still startled by  
how much damage it had wrecked. The museum would probably have to be condemned.  
A brisk five-minute walk brought them to the exhibit featuring the precious  
gems. Removing the charges, Taro placed them on the case protecting the jewels.  
The case was built of a composite material that would survive even a shot with  
a rifle, but these charges would be too much for it.  
  
* * *  
  
Moving from rooftop to rooftop, Serenity  
and her guards raced to help Neptune. To those on the ground the sight would  
have been majestic if they had known to look up. For in the front, the Moon  
Princess, in her battle attire, flew with her wings outstretched, easily  
outpacing the vehicles on the ground. Close behind her, touching each roof for  
only a moment, the four Guardian Senshi followed.  
  
Taking a sharp turn to the left, the moon  
warrior made to cross the street and begin heading north. Midway across the  
street, her Senshi just landing on the previous building, the street suddenly  
erupted into a fireball of flame and debris. The inferno fueled from a gas main  
below the street reached its fingers of fire up into the sky to envelop the  
Moon princess. A manhole cover, part of the debris, shot into Serenity,  
stunning her. Wings folding back in on themselves, she plummeted out of the  
sky.  
  
Just a few seconds behind their leader the  
others watched in horror as the flames engulfed her. Breaking their forward  
motion, they stopped at the edge of the building. All they could do was cry out  
"Sailor Moon" while ChibiMoon collapsed to the ground in tears.  
  
One warrior though did not stop. Instead,  
she gave herself to her heart and flung herself into the inferno after the one  
that she loved more than anything in the world. A distant part of her mind told  
her that the fire would not touch her, but even still, she would have thrown  
herself into it. Her aim perfect she caught the falling Serenity. Now  
plummeting to the ground herself, the fiery warrior twisted her body so that  
she would take the brunt of the fall. Looking up into the face of her cargo,  
she saw the Serenity's smile of thanks. "Usagi, we will always be there for you  
no matter what." She said moments before her back slammed through a shop's  
window. As they came to a rest towards the back of the store, the warrior with  
her final energy rolled her body once more, this time to cover Serenity and  
protect her from any advancing flames.  
  
* * *  
  
"Mars!" Venus cried as she saw their  
hotheaded friend leap into the flames. She mentally kicked herself for not  
expecting that girl to pull a stunt like that. Now they had two injured Senshi  
down in that mess. However, thinking of ways to kill Mars would have to wait  
till later, they had a fire to deal with. Even if two of their friends were not  
down there in it, it still had the potential of destroying a huge portion of  
the city. "Mercury, can you do anything about this?" she asked the blue haired  
warrior while continuing to scan the scene, something about it did not seem  
right to her.  
  
"Hai." Mercury replied as she leapt off the  
building, ignoring Venus's screams of "WHAT IN GOD'S NAME ARE YOU DOING?" As  
she reached the apex of her jump, which corresponded exactly to the center of  
the inferno, she gathered her powers about her. Concentrating as the energy  
built she released it and called out "Shabon Spray," and then after the fog had  
traversed over the entire inferno added "Freezing!" With those words, a now  
frozen, sub-zero fog began slowly wafting down extinguishing the flames.  
  
Continuing across the street, Mercury  
tucked her head in to somersault before landing on the opposite building with  
her back to the others. With a quick back flip she was down on the ground,  
joined shortly thereafter by Venus and Jupiter.  
  
Turing her head Jupiter looked frantically  
around, "Where are they?" she asked.  
  
"Over there." Mercury said while pointing  
to store with a broken window, but no other blast damage to its façade. "They  
must have gone through that window when they came down."  
  
Jupiter began to move towards them, but a  
restraining hand from Venus stopped her. "Something is not right here." Venus  
replied in response to Jupiter's questioning murderous look.  
  
Deploying her visor, Mercury began scanning  
the area. "Venus is right. I am detecting Dark Energy. I think there may be a…"  
  
"Droid!" cried Venus and Jupiter as they  
saw Constructica climb her way out of the subterranean hole in the ground.  
  
"Yes, droid, how did you know?" Mercury  
asked as she began looking up from her computer. "Oh" she answered for herself  
as she saw the enemy.  
  
A barrage of killer traffic cones from the  
demon scattered the three warriors. thought Jupiter as she leapt to dodge a barrage of hot  
asphalt. Twisting around in midair she retaliated with an attack of her own.  
  
Unfortunately, the beast seemed to have a  
liking for baseball, as it brought a backhoe out from its body and hit the ball  
of energy. Jupiter could only watch in horror as the beast avoided any injury  
and instead sent her attack towards Mercury. The blue haired scout tried to  
jump out of the way, but only ended up ensuring that the blast hit her full and  
square. Electricity flying across her skin, Mercury shot straight and rigid  
before crumbling to the ground in a heap. While fresh water is normally a poor  
conductor of electricity, give it enough power and even water will conduct.  
  
"Why you, Crescent Beam Smash," cried Venus  
as she let loose her attack. The beam of pure energy punched through the droid,  
leaving a gaping hole. But unfortunately that is all it did, besides make it  
madder. Running through their options in her head, Venus was not coming up with  
anything good. They needed help and soon. Uranus was hopefully giving Neptune  
some relief and Pluto who knew if she was even in the time stream now. There  
was Ryo, but they had no way of contacting that Shadow Warrior, Just hopefully  
he had gotten a vision of that last attack on Mercury and would be on his way  
here.   
  
A sudden flash of red thankfully brought  
some relief. "Fixing the streets is for the unionized street workers, one  
should not make a mockery of their job."  
  
* * *  
  
Racing down the corridors, Neptune was  
beginning to doubt that she would be able to reach the Atrium before this  
monster had her for lunch. The back of her uniform was in tatters and she could  
feel the fine scratches on her back from its claws. For the moment, she had  
been able to pull slightly ahead of the creature, though only by knocking over  
quite a few works of arts into the path of the creature.  
  
Looking behind her, she gathered her energy  
again for another attack. The small ball of seawater smashed into the ground  
beside the lion. Water flew everywhere, ruining even more paintings, while the  
impact left a nice sized divot in the floor. Thankfully, the blast also caught  
the demon and flung it sideways against the wall. But already it was back on  
its feet and moving again. But it had bought her a few more seconds of time.  
  
Bringing her head down she put all her  
remaining energy into pumping her feet into the ground. The atrium was just  
ahead, and if she could reach it, she might just have a chance. That was of  
course assuming that she had any energy left upon arriving there. Right now,  
all she wanted to do was to collapse to the ground and sleep. But the hot  
breath of the demon drove those thoughts out of her head and she instead just  
concentrated on her goal.  
  
And then she was there; she was through the  
doorway and in the main lobby of the museum. Unfortunately, she was also  
finished. Her energy spent, Neptune collapsed to the ground. Rolling over to  
face her fate, she watched as the lion now more slowly stalked up towards her,  
sensing victory to be his.  
  
"World Shaking!"  
  
Startled by the presence of another the  
creature looked up from its meal. Its eyes widen in horror as a yellow ball of  
energy slammed into it. With the creature out of the way for the moment, Uranus  
quickly moved to her love and picked her up. Jumping to one of the upper  
levels, Uranus laid Neptune down. "Don't worry love, I will make it pay for  
hurting you."  
  
Then with a chilling grin, Uranus turned  
back to gaze at her prey while stepping up onto the railing. The two opponents  
gazed at each other, neither making the first move. And there they stood as one  
moment became many. For her part, Uranus had a large ball of energy in her  
hand, powerful enough to take out half the building if she missed. She was not  
interested in playing with this monster, it would die here and now.   
  
Unnoticed by the two, a third figure  
entered in through the museum's entrance. Holding her long staff in front of  
her body, she regarded the situation. "Dead Scream," Pluto whispered.  
  
Once again caught off guard, the lion was  
taken by surprise. However, this time being that it was preparing to pounce  
anyways, it was able to easily leap clear of the attack. Smiling, Uranus leapt  
as well. Reaching the far wall, she pushed off of it and headed down towards  
where the creature was landing. Pulling her body into ball, she spun so that  
she now faced the demon as she passed over it.  
  
"World Shaking" she screamed at it, placing  
her hand directly in front of its roaring face. Sensing the nearness of the  
second pray, the demon opened its mouth in an attempt to bite Uranus. However,  
instead of sinking its teeth into the flesh of the windy warrior, it instead  
swallowed a massive ball of energy. The attack ripped through the creature,  
utterly consuming it till nothing more than dust and a burnt card was left.  
  
Uranus's jump carried her away from the  
creature even as she released her attack, allowing her to avoid the power  
backlash. Even still, though, explosion that had resulted flung her like a rag  
doll against the far wall of the room.   
  
Consequently, Pluto was the only one in the  
building left standing. With nothing else to do until the others  
arrived, the great guardian of time was left to baby-sit the fallen warriors.  
Finding an undamaged comfy chair Pluto plopped herself down, but her feet up  
and waited.  
  
* * *  
  
From a different roof, Rubeus watched the  
battle below him with great amusement. After releasing the droid, he had  
decided to follow it, so that he could see Serenity and her new power for  
himself. The Wiseman had said that she had suddenly become very powerful, and  
if he were to fight her in the future, he would need to know all that he could.  
However, as far as intel, this idea was useless.  
  
But that failure was but a success, since  
the droid had managed to take out Sailor Moon before the battle had even begun.  
And he was guessing that Sailor Mars must be out of it too, after her foolhardy  
rescue attempt. The two were probably still alive, but he could arrange  
otherwise shortly, but the Wiseman's words played in his head and he gave them  
heed. Only if the droid took out the other three would he finish the group of  
them off. Otherwise the tables could very quickly turn, another thing he had  
noticed while watching the Dark Kingdom's operations.  
  
From what he had seen of Sailor Moon's very  
brief appearance, she was definitely different now. Not only did she have  
silver hair, she also had wings, much like her future self. He figured that  
meant that she had enough power now, that she no longer felt the need to hide  
her true nature. And, unfortunately, that made things harder. But if that  
professor could free the Wiseman from his entrapment, then it wouldn't matter.  
The Wiseman had allowed them to beat her in the future, and here in the past  
she would be no harder. And without having to devout his time to both the  
future and the past, he figured it would be even easier on the Wiseman now.  
  
Smiling again, he watched as the Soldier of  
Jupiter electrocuted the Warrior of Mercury.  
  
* * *  
  
While the three teenaged warriors had moved  
to face the droid upon landing on the ground, the pint-sized warrior had headed  
towards her mother instead. Carefully jumping in through the broken window,  
ChibiMoon spied where her mother and Mars lay on the ground.   
  
"Gomen, Mars" she whispered to the fallen  
warrior as she pushed Mars off of her mother. With her mother now clear, she  
smiled, as she was able to confirm that her mother was still alive. Crawling up  
beside her mother, she laid her body against the other and lay like that for a  
moment. She was fully content like this and could have remained lying with her  
head on her mother forever. But Mercury's scream of pain brought her back to  
reality.  
  
Shaking her mother, she tried to wake Usagi  
up. Even mentioning Mamo-chan's name seemed to have no effect. Frustrated she  
got up on her feet and walking to Usagi's feet, gave her a good kick. However,  
all it managed to do was to cause Usagi to roll over and to begin to snore real  
loudly.  
  
"Great, just great. There is a battle going  
on out there, and you are going to just sleep. Usagi no Baka." Now really  
annoyed, fear for her mother's condition having been reassured when Usagi began  
to snore, she pulled out her wand and cried "Pink Moon Sugar Heart Attack."  
  
And, for once, the attack worked the first  
time. The stream of pink hearts floated out of the wand and impacted right on  
the Moon Warrior's behind.  
  
"Ow!" Cried Sailor Moon as she quickly woke  
and moved out of the line of the attack. "Why you little spore!" she yelled at  
ChibiMoon.  
  
ChibiMoon, knowing what to expect had  
already back flipped through the store window. Sailor Moon quickly followed the  
pink haired brat outside. But on arriving outside, all thoughts of the spore  
vanished from her mind. Turning sharply to the left, she headed towards where  
the other Soldiers and Tuxedo-kamen were fighting the droid.   
  
"How dare you attack my friends. I am the  
pretty soldier of love and justice. For what you did to Mars, I can not forgive  
you and I will punish you." Sailor Moon declared as she reached the battle  
scene.  
  
The other combatants paused in their combat  
as they heard her speech, something about the tone of her words. Her friends  
could see a fierce determination burn in her eyes, and quickly moved out of the  
way. Tuxedo-kamen moved to be beside his love, knowing that she would need him  
when this creature had been taken care of.  
  
The droid Constructica regarded this new  
threat and for the first time felt fear. It had no idea what it was talking  
about with regard to this Mars person. But it also knew that it was about to  
face this young warrior's wrath. Back peddling it began frantically firing any  
and everything it could at the Moon Warrior.  
  
Sailor Moon stood her ground as the cones  
and whatnot passed by her. Then slowly she pulled out her Eternal Tier.  
Bringing the staff up, she felt her body become a conduit for the energy of the  
Moon as it flowed through her into the Tier. And then with a final motion, she  
slammed the butt of the Tier into the ground and its purifying energy lashed out  
in all directions, sweeping away the darkness.  
  
And when the light was gone, so was the  
monster. Not even the ruined droid crystal remained. With exhaustion, she fell  
into the arms of Tuxedo-kamen. Catching the eye of Venus, he left the  
battlefield with his love in his arms.  
  
Turning to Mercury, Venus spoke "Mercury go  
check on Mars. Jupiter and I are going to continue on to the art museum and  
Neptune and the other demon."  
  
"Hai," replied Mercury as she watched the  
other two Soldiers leave. Then turning she walked back to where Mars lay.  
  
* * *  
  
Rubeus watched in interest as Sailor Moon  
made her presence known. He watched  
closely as pulled a new weapon out from behind her back and then in shock as he  
felt her energy build to incredible levels. Suddenly fearing for his life, he  
got an uncontrollable urge to duck down behind the ledge of the roof.   
  
Only moments after he cowered with the  
ledge as his cover, the sky above him lit up in a bright light. From where he  
lay could feel the power in it. With a new respect for his opponent  
he picked himself up from the roof and teleported himself away, having decided  
that under no circumstance would he attack her directly.  
  
* * *  
  
The sound of boots clicking on the marble  
floor of the museum ended Pluto's vigil. Standing up she noted two battle weary  
warriors approach. "I take it, you found some of your own fun."  
  
"Yep it looks like we are back to our two  
for one deals." Venus replied. "What happened to them?"  
  
"The demon was a bit more than Neptune  
could handle herself. And Uranus, well she was never one in this life or the  
previous one to listen to caution."  
  
Jupiter and Venus nodded their agreement  
with that statement. Walking up to the two downed warriors, Jupiter picked up  
Neptune while Pluto and Venus took Uranus. Leaving the museum, they took to the  
roofs to bring the two unconscious warriors home to bed.  
  
-End Chapter 22 


	23. Signs and Portents

The Fragility of Time BOOK TWO: "Falling Towards Apotheosis" Chapter 23: "Signs and Portents" Author: etj4Eagle Email: etj4Eagle@yahoo.com http://www.geocities.com/etj4eagle Lasted Edited: 1/5/02 

Disclaimer: A reminder I own none of the characters of this story, all rights are owned by others. However, the unique circumstances of the story are mine. If you distribute the story, do only so freely and inform me of where you post it.

_______________________________________

Shadows began to stretch onward to infinity as the sun slowly fell below the horizon. Grandpa Hino took note of evening's arrival and ended his meditations. For the past few hours, he had been in meditation with the fire trying to find out why once again it had faltered. But like before, the fire held its mystery. Leaving the fire room, he walked outside the building. 

Breathing in some of the refreshing evening air, he noticed that Rei's chores lay undone. _Where has that child gotten off to, it's not like her to not do her chores. Even when she has her friends over she finishes up her chores first. Better see where she has gotten herself off to._ However, a quick search of the shrine and living quarters did not reveal Rei. He considered that she might still be out with her friends, but dismissed that option. Instead, he entered the woods behind the shrine to continue his search. As the trees fully enclosed him, he began to hear voices in the distance and headed off in that direction.

One of the voices was obviously his granddaughter's; the other unmistakably belonged to Tsukino Usagi's. Though neither the tone nor inflection she currently used seemed suited to that bubbly-headed girl. No, this voice had a seriousness and commanding quality to it that no child could speak with. Though he could not yet make out what she was saying, he could tell that however her voice still carried a sub-message of absolute carrying and love. The warmth of that sub-message was so great, that it couldn't be anybody but Usagi.

Trying to catch at least some of the conversation, not that it was much of one as Usagi was doing all the talking, Grandpa Hino moved closer. As he crept up, he guessed that Usagi had to be reprimanding Rei for something, and obviously not accepting any of the hot spirited girl's excuses. _Odd, never would imagine anyone would be able to do that to Rei. I would expect her to be yelling back, not accepting her reprimand._

Finally, close enough to make out some words, he heard Usagi mention something about being "…seriously hurt…",  "…possibly killed…", and "…won't allow that, no matter what…". Unfortunately, the conversation broke up at that point. Seeing Rei walk his way obviously fuming, he slipped off the trail to hide in the darkness. Now would not be a good time for her to find him spying on her. Her fiery nature was likely seething just below the surface waiting to be unleashed. Anyways, Yuuichirou's singing had been getting a little too frequent lately.

Once his granddaughter had disappeared out of sight, he turned to look up the path the other direction, looking for Usagi. However he did not see her, strange would have thought she would have begun leaving by now.

"You know it's a good thing that Rei-chan did not see you." came a voice from behind.

_Well I guess that answer's where Usagi got off to._ he thought as he turned. Though he did wonder how she had found him and furthermore how she had managed to make it behind him unnoticed. Bowing in shame, he fumbled for words.

"Don't worry about it. You were just doing your duty, as she was." Usagi said as she walked past him. He remained where she had found him, as he watched her disappear down the trail. Then just before the darkness of night swallowed her up, she turned and spoke, "I don't know what you heard, but know this. I give you my word that Rei-chan will be fine."

With those words, she vanished into the night. Pondering that final statement he began to walk out of the woods as well. He realized that they applied to those speech fragments that he had overheard. Reaching the open grounds of the shrine and the lights, he noticed that Usagi was nowhere in sight. She had not been that far ahead of him, yet another mystery for his mind to ponder.

A scream and scampering though prevented him from pondering that mystery too much. Turning he saw Yuuichirou rush around the outside of their house, quickly followed by a broom wielding Rei. Well at least she is letting her steam blow off.

*** * * **

In a warehouse along the waterfront, three men nervously waited. They may have just pulled off the most daring heist of the centaury, but that did not make them feel any safer. It was not crooks they were afraid of nor was it the police neither bothered them. Rubeus had trained them into soldiers. No, they were scared by what their recent heist's support was. Like many in Tokyo, they had quickly fooled themselves into thinking that the monster attacks were over in the aftermath of Serenity's defeat of Metalia.

But today's events had shattered that illusion. The monsters were back and worse Rubeus apparently was associated with them. They had always known, that Rubeus was more than he appeared. But as long as it remained just suspicions that was okay, but now things were different.

Takeo looked down at his watch. "He's late"

"Actually I'm right on time." Came a voice from behind the three. Turning the three saw nothing. Looking up, their jaws dropped as they saw a red headed figure wearing a brown vest floating in mid air. Dropping to the ground, he approached them. Reaching out a hand, he took the limply offered briefcase. Briefly opening it to check its contents, Rubeus smiled. Jumping back up into the air, he gave one of his trademark evil smiles before vanishing.

Reappearing in the air above the warehouse, Rubeus smiled internally. The day had been a very successful one. The pesky Sailor Soldiers had gotten a nice beating, and he had the gems. Soon the assault on Crystal Tokyo would begin here in the past, and the Sailor Senshi would be defenseless to prevent the destruction of this world.

He looked forward with glee to when he would be able to introduce those warriors to his new and improved hybrid droids. Today's events showed that they were barely able to handle a regular one; the new ones would easily overpower them. Though, Serenity was a problem. She might still be able to easily destroy them; well that was nothing more than a complication. Anyways the Wiseman had mentioned that there might be a way around that as well; something about removing a home field advantage.

*** * * **

A millennium ago, a wave of energy erupted outwards from the moon fueled by its Queen's life energy. Grasping the princess, her love, and the planetary souls in its wake, it sent them into the future to be reborn. And in so doing, it began the final act for the birth of a soul, a star seed unlike any other. Metalia's two attacks on the moon, far from preventing that which Chaos feared, were necessary to bring it about.

One final act still needed to be played out. The soul still needed to be nourished before it could awaken. For that it needed energy, however Metalia's attacks had destroyed the energy web that had sustained the Silver Millennium. However, even if it had not, that energy web would have been of no use, for a soul cannot feed on its own energy. Its nourishment would instead come from that which made Tokyo so attractive to attackers.

The Ginzuishou, waking for the first time ever when Queen Serenity fed it her life force, had collected all the magic energy of the Earth and shifted the manna pools to lie beneath the future city of Tokyo. There the magic would be able to help its other half, and give its fragmented self the energy it would need to contain the Shadow Warrior souls.

Scattered around Tokyo lay a few dozen "Crystal Points," focal points of the vast manna that lay beneath the city. Much as waking the system's planets and tying their energy together in the Ginzuishou created the Moon Kingdom of the past, these Crystal Points would give rise to Crystal Tokyo. Polluting these points with dark energy would not only prevent the formation of Crystal Tokyo, they might even starve the soul of its nourishment, killing it.

*** * * **

Wrapped in the mists of time and space, the Death Phantom contemplated his predicament. The isolation gave him plenty of time to meditate and plan for his return. At least now, he no longer had to worry about putting up a façade for Prince Diamond. At least that imbecile had been easily manipulated.

One problem remained however, the Messiah. He was easily able to feel her presence by the residual energy that she had left on Rubeus. But she was also not yet awake, that was clear by Rubeus's continued existence. If she had been awake during the battle with Metalia, his tool would be no more. Unfortunately, he did not know how much longer he had. The awakening process had begun, and every moment and every battle brought her closer to awakening to her true powers. He had to slow her down.

A plan forming in his mind, he began searching for the mind of Rubeus on the dream plane. At the same time, he turned his thoughts to the other problem, the professor. Tomoe was just a tad bit too idealistic, but that would not be hard to take care of, a little persuasion and energy boost would take care of that.

*** * * **

Closing the door behind himself, Tomoe removed his hat and hung it on the coat rack. His coat soon followed the hat and then he bent down to remove his shoes. Standing back up he moved only a few feet before being thrown back towards the door by an energetic bundle of energy.

"Papa!" Hotaru cried as she threw herself into his arms.

Looking down at his daughter, the professor smiled, "I take it you had a good day at school."

"Hai!" replied the youngster, "Especially since I now get to see ChibiUsa-chan everyday."

"Oh? ChibiUsa-chan also goes to your school? That's a wonderful stroke of good luck." The professor replied as he put his daughter down on the ground and began walking to the dinning room. "You are not having any troubles are you?"

Hotaru vigorously shook her head no. "Nope, haven't had any of my illness since that one day at the amusement park. I have also been keeping my strength up."

"That last part is definitely true. She has been a ball of energy these past few days." Eudial added as she brought out the dinner for the professor. Then turning to Hotaru she continued, "Hotaru you can talk with your dad for a bit but then it is up to bed."

"Hai." Was the little girl's reply.

"So tell me what you are learning at school." Tomoe suggested to his daughter.

*** * * **

Hotaru had stayed down to talk with her father for ten minutes before giving into her need for sleep and heading off to bed. An hour later found the professor putting down his book and following suit. He was glad that he was able to make it home early enough tonight to see his daughter before she headed off to bed. It was one aspect of his chosen career that he did not care for, the long nights, which often kept him from his daughter. That of course was the reason why she had been in the lab during the accident in the first place. Eudial did keep him updated with how Hotaru was doing, but it was not the same as actually being there for her and at least being able to tuck her into bed at night.

But as much as he wished that he did not have to spend all these late nights, they now were directly for her benefit. Only by finishing the project would Hotaru finally be free of the demon that had possessed her on the day of the accident. He remembered picking up her broken lifeless body and holding it in his arms. Tears running down his eyes for the loss, he should have known better than to have let her be in the lab while he was running his experiments. But in a foolish attempt to see more of his daughter, he had been in the habit of selfishly bringing her to his lab.

He remembered how happy he was when he had discovered that his daughter was still clinging onto a sliver of life. Somehow, she had managed to find enough strength to open her eyes and give a silent cry of "Papa" and wrap her arms around his neck. Later after she was released from the hospital, he created a set of mechanized braces to augment her fragile body. Amazingly, her body had healed at an incredible rate, the doctors had been doubtful that she would ever walk again, but she was up on her feet within a week.

She no longer needed those original braces, her bones and muscles having their full strength back. But, they had not yet recovered their stamina. As such, she still wore a more discreet set, which she further hid by her choice of garments, to avoid tiring out so quickly. This set was in some ways a pride of joy of his, as it was able to adjust from providing no aid to near complete support just by sensing how her muscles were doing. 

Unfortunately, other symptoms had begun to manifest themselves soon after she was healthy enough to return to school. She started developing spasms that would severely rack her body and soon after that, she began having blackouts and their accompanying moments of dark personality. Shortly after that, he had to remove her from school, as the rest of the children were deathly scared of her. He still remembered the horror he felt that day when he was told she had broken the arm and collarbone of one of the boys in her class. But now, that man Rubeus offered a possible way to remove those incidents from happening ever again, a way to undo his mistake. With those thoughts in his mind professor Tomoe dropped off to sleep.

*** * * **

The Death Phantom crackled from where he drifted in his prison. Summoning some of his energy, he had pried into the world to look in on the professor. And things were far better than he could have asked for. It would be no problem to take care of the fool's inhibitions. Summoning more of his black magic, the demon sought the sleeping mind of the professor while at the same time creating some appropriate scenery for his "guest."

Professor Tomoe gradually became aware of his surroundings. Glancing around he found himself to be standing on a cliff over looking the Pacific Ocean, the waves playing against the base. Turning around he found a figured cloaked in a robe. The man, whom he assumed to be quite aged, sat floating half a meter off the ground and held a dark crystal ball in front of his body.

"Who are you?" Tomoe asked.

"You know me as the Wiseman." The robed figure replied. Then lifting his head to catch the eyes of his guest, the Death Phantom continued. "I am but a servant, a being providing support to freedom fighters, allowing them to fight a war that they would otherwise loose.

"The mechanical-magical creatures that they use are a necessity due to their small number. In your lifetime your world order will be turned on its head as a monarch comes to rule the entire planet." The Death Phantom paused as Tomoe regarded him doubtfully. "Trust me it will happen, and even if your nation-states had tried to oppose her, there would be nothing they could do, her warriors easily outclass them."

"You are talking of the Sailor Senshi" Tomoe concluded.

"Yes, their princess will soon reclaim her lost throne. However, the rule will be forever, for she will not age nor die. At first humanity will prosper under her rule, and it will bring the end of wars. But after a few centuries, things will begin to stagnant, and after a thousand years, she will still be on the throne. A thousand years of stagnation can doom a race.

"With the world yearning for change, a group of freedom fighters will take up the challenge. But they will fail and for their actions they will be banished to the far fringes of the solar system, finding refuge on a Kuiper Belt object. There I will find them and then preceded to train and provided them with powers that they would need to face her warriors. However, even that will be/was insufficient. Not even the creation of the Droid crystals could give them victory. Only one thing could bring about the revolution, the change that the people of Earth so desperately yearned for, the queen's own daughter. 

"If we could open the eyes of the child, then the people of the earth would have a chance. However, the queen banished her own daughter to the past. In the past, the child's powers would wither out and isolated from the Ginzuishou she would age and die as normal and thereby pose no threat to the queen. But thankfully, I was still able to find the child. Here in the past the child has seen all that she needs to see, just by being here her eyes have opened. Now we just need to find her and return her to the future to allow her powers to awaken."

Having finished his little speech, the Death Phantom allowed Tomoe's mind return to the dream plane. Smiling to himself, he knew that they would no longer have to worry about the professor's loyalties. He would know understand why they had to use monsters to carry out their operations, and would understand that dark times lay for humanity's future if they did not free the Wiseman. Of course, the dark energy that he had been channeling into the professor during the conversation would keep the fool from puzzling out the inconsistencies in the story. 

Now there was but one task left, a complication that needed to be taken care of, Serenity. But he had a theory on how he could eliminate her as a threat. Crystal Tokyo was a mere manifestation of her powers. Hence, what posed a threat to one should be a threat to the other, especially in her current state, which had to be drawing a lot of power. It looked like Rubeus was going to be searching out those Crystal Points after all.

*** * * **

Mamoru slowly ate his lunch while thinking about the battle the previous day. He had not arrived in time to save his love from getting seriously hurt by that creature. Of course there was no way he could have known that another demon would pull a surprise attack on the Senshi as they were traveling towards the art gallery. It was mere coincidence that Usagi happened to be in the same place as that droid.

He just wished that he understood these attacks of Rubeus. Every one seemed to be unrelated with the others. The only common factor was that the droids appeared to be attempting to create as much damage as possible. He had talk to Ami a few times about the situation, and she hadn't been able to figure out anything either with her analysis. They knew Rubeus was looking for the Ginzuishou and ChibiUsa, however that warrior did not make his presence known when he attacked, a very different tactic than those of the Dark Kingdom's generals.

Finishing up his lunch, he left the café.

*** * * **

Enjoying her Saturday, Natsumi walked down the street. She was on her way to spend the afternoon at the mall. She might be an alien, but in some ways, she was quickly finding herself going native. If asked to give a reason, she would have to say that it was the same energy that had drawn the two of them here. While its intensity had dropped off significantly since they arrived, it was still there in the background, just at the right level to make her feel warm and loved by this planet. 

Smelling something delicious, Natsumi stopped at a sidewalk vender to get a snack, even though all her nourishment came from the tree. Paying for the treat, she stood a few meters away while she ate her snack. Reveling in the flavors and textures that assaulted her senses, she let her eyes wonder up and down the street. For one of the few times not searching for targets, but instead just enjoying the planet she found herself on.

A man wearing a green jacket drew her attention and for some reason held it as he walked past. Then without thought she began to follow him down the street. She had to admit that he did have good looks and if she did not have Ail, she might have even considered chasing after this earthling. Even still, she could not break herself off from him and still followed.

There was something else about him that she felt as well. Something that made her feel safe, that made her forget her troubles. If she had him, then she would not have to worry about the Tree of Life. Focused as she was on his very attributes, she did not notice when he stopped walking and instead ran into him.

Picking herself off the ground, "Gomen-nasai, I guess I was not paying attention to where I was walking." Natsumi offered. And then quickly moving to pounce on her target she added, "I am Ginga Natsumi, what's your name?"

A cry of "Mamo-chan!" prevented Mamoru from answering. To Ann's disgust, that same girl she had seen Ail with the other day appeared from out of the crowd and proceeded to latch herself onto the green-jacketed man. 

As Usagi became attached to Mamoru's arm, she sent him a look that told him he had some explaining to do. Feeling the insecurity begin to radiate across their bond he proceeded to head it off. One major advantage of their soul bond he had to admit was its ability to keep him from being too much of a dunce. "Usako this is Ginga Natsumi, with the streets as busy as they are she ended up accidentally bumping into me."

The insecurity reassured Usagi's attitude took a 180. Letting go of Mamoru, she stepped towards the other girl and greeted her warmly. "Natsumi you must be Seijuurou's sister. I am glad to meet you and hope that you are finding your move to Tokyo to be of your liking. I am Tsukino Usagi, but you can just call me Usagi-chan."

Having introduced herself, her mind once again jumped tracks and Usagi began pulling Mamoru away. As Mamoru found himself being dragged down the street, he managed to partially turn around to say bye to Natsumi before disappearing into the crowds.

Wow what a hunk. was Natsumi's first thought. Her second thought was much darker. That little minx not only has Mamoru, but also is going after her Ail. Deciding to continue her trip down the street, Ann's thoughts alternated between needing to keep Usagi away from her love and ways in which she could pry Chiba-san away from that girl.

*** * * **

Rubeus left the offices of a well-kept office building in the heart of the business district. His meeting had gone well, his "superiors" were quite surprised when he gave them the case of gems. All of the necessary equipment was now lined up and paid for. In but a few weeks the Wiseman would be released from his prison, and the mayhem could begin again.

Passing by the shops on the road, he suddenly felt a chill go through his body. Stopping he walked back to where he had felt the chill to investigate. Examining the area he smiled, he had stumbled upon a Crystal Point. This was just what he needed to weaken Serenity. Pulling out one of the crystals, he remembered his meeting with the Wiseman on the dream plane the previous night.

While Serenity was quite a formidable foe with the immense powers she had recently acquired, they also severely handicapped her. Those powers were a sever drain on her system and she consequently needed to draw vast amounts of energy to sustain herself. Pollute those sources and she would falter, and as an added bonus, they would be able to use that energy themselves.

Taking the crystal, he dropped it to the ground. The area around where it hit glowed black for a few moments before returning to normal. The crystal would release its energy later, all of the sites activating at once. The sudden energy drain might even be enough to kill that witch.

Getting ready to leave, his desire to cause some mayhem gave him an idea. Pulling out a perfectly fine droid crystal, he left a parting gift. Moving up to the rooftop, Rubeus found himself a good seat to watch the pending festivities. The droid crystal activated releasing a demon that kind of resembled a baker. However, within moments, its form had change to be no different than any human baker. Now disguised the droid walked into the bakery. There inside it found the real baker and upon neutralizing her, took her place. Now in control of the bakery, it began making special versions of the day's treats, one's that would pollute the energy of any who ate them, thereby capturing this point for the Dark Moon.

*** * * **

Humming to herself, Makoto walked down the street doing her best to ignore her two companions. As was their norm, Usagi and Rei were deeply involved in an argument, one that had been going strong for the past few city blocks. Shaking her head, she did have to admit that while it might not look like it, those two had matured a lot in the past few months, Usagi especially.

Unlike when those two first met, these matches no longer ended in hurt feelings. Oh, Usagi would still wail about "Rei being so mean to her," but that was more for show than anything else. In some ways, she supposed those two argued to let the other know how much they cared for each other. In which case today's fight was to let each other know that things were still okay between them after last night's reprimand.

Looking ahead, Makoto noticed a sign in the window of one of the shops. Looking down she asked her companion, "ChibiUsa-chan, you up for some cookies." while pointing out the shop ahead.

"Hai!" the other girl replied. Not that the answer to that question was ever in doubt. Walking a few more steps she asked, "Mako-chan do you think we should tell them about it."

Makoto thought about that for a moment before replying. "Iie, I don't think so. If they are too lost in their little argument to notice us going into the bakery, it's their loss. Anyways we could probably do with a little quiet time." 

ChibiUsa replied only with a knowing smile. And so, the two girls left the street to go to try some of the free cookie samples. What they found inside amazed Makoto, she was expecting a tray with one or maybe two different cookie lines on it. Instead, a couple of tables were set up with massive amounts of treats on them. Looking past them, Makoto further saw the store employees bringing out more trays of goodies. _Well this is definitely not, what I expected. Don't see how they can expect to make any money if they are just giving away the food. They must have a new head baker who wants to let everyone see how his recipes differed from the previous one._ Satisfied with her reasoning, Makoto looked at the offerings and selected a brownie to try.

Seeing some other treats she would also like to try, Makoto placed them on her plate as well. Sighting ChibiUsa who had already found a place at one of the tables, she went to join her. Sitting down she had to sigh as saw the massive plate of goodies that ChibiUsa had with her and then another one after sighting a second plate, which was already empty. "ChibiUsa-chan you do know that you need to leave room for dinner tonight."

"Hai," the other girl replied as she continued to wolf through her food. Makoto could only shake her head.

 "What do you think you are doing spore, hogging all these goodies for yourself!" came an irate yell from behind Makoto.

"Well sweats should only be for someone who is sweat like me, not a ditz like you." ChibiUsa replied.

"You're not sweat, you're just an annoying spore." Usagi replied while grabbing a handful of cookies off ChibiUsa's plate.

"Hey those are mine!" ChibiUsa yelled as Usagi swiped her treats.

"Watch it Odango-atama, try to keep your crumbs off the rest of us." Rei added to the brewing fight.

Makoto just hung her head and quietly tried to make her way away from those three. _Guess I was a bit premature in saying that they had matured. Give them an opportunity and they will let their IQ drop to that of a two year old._ But then after thinking about it a bit more, Makoto decided that she much preferred this to the way those three, and the rest of them were a few weeks ago, at least now they were sufficiently at ease with everything again that they could act like two year olds.

Noticing a freshly baked batch of cookies being laid out, Makoto went to grab one. She had not yet had the opportunity to try any of them yet, as she had still been in shock over how quickly ChibiUsa had devoured her first plate of goodies when that argument had started up. ChibiUsa and Usagi had metabolisms that were the envy of every woman on the planet, able to burn through any amount of food.

Taking a bite of the cookie, her face turned sour. _Bleh, this tastes like a cheap discount cookie, not a high quality bakery cookie. Maybe it was just from a bad batch._ After tossing the remains of her first cookie, Makoto decided to try some of the other ones. However, each one had the same off taste to her. Looking around she realized she was the only one who could tell that something was wrong with the cookie. Even that food critic there in the corner seemed to enjoying the desserts.

Not knowing why she didn't like the cookies, Makoto decided to get some water to wash that foul taste out of her mouth. In the back of the store was a water cooler, and so she headed there. Grabbing a paper cup of water, she refilled it three times before she had sufficiently rinsed out her mouth. _I must just have a rare sensitivity to something this new baker uses. Probably the same ingredient, which has apparently hooked everyone else here._

Noticing the kitchen door to be ajar, Makoto decided to take a peak in. Maybe she could get the baker to tell her what he had added to the cookies. Even though she didn't want to know for her own use, it would be good to know so that she could avoid it if she ever came across it in a recipe.

"Hello?" the auburn girl called as she stepped into kitchen. Taking in the kitchen, her gaze came up short when she saw a person tied up with rope lying on the floor. "Huh?" she wondered.

"What a shame now I am going to have to kill you." Came a voice from behind her.

Quickly spinning while jumping backwards, Makoto came face to face with the baker's double. However, this one radiated darkness, a darkness that each of the Senshi had come to associate with the demons they faced. The association was unfortunately proven correct when the form in front of her blurred and became a nasty looking demon. One of the demon's arms was a rolling pin, while the other was a very long chef's knife.

_Show time._ the soldier of Jupiter thought. "I think you might be mistaken about, which one is not going to be walking out of here at the end. Jupiter Star Power, Make-Up!" she cried out as her the energy of her planet awoke in her and exploded outward.

"Sweats are supposed to bring smiles to people's faces, not drain their energy. For perverting this wonderful gift that we call cookies I will punish you. I am Sailor Moon and in the name of the moon, I will punish you." A voice called from the door.

Looking past the demon, Jupiter saw Mars and ChibiMoon flanking Serenity. In response to the questioning look that Jupiter threw them, Mars added, "Everyone outside just passed out from a sudden energy drain."

_Well time to take out this trash._ thought Jupiter as threw a ball of lighting into the creature, blowing it a nice distance backwards. Unfortunately, it recovered quickly and retaliated by sending out large clumps of dough. Jupiter managed to dodge most of that dough. Unfortunately, the small clump that managed to snag her wrist yanked her off her feet. A wall abruptly ended her flight backwards. Recovering her wits, Jupiter attempted to leave the wall. However, she found that clump of dough to be holding her arm fast to the wall. The dough had upon hitting the wall instantly hardened into a cookie restraint. _Just great done in by food._ the Thunder Senshi thought to herself.

Though on how the others were doing, she did have to admit she had gotten off lucky. Usagi was by far worse off, those wings were not meant for dodging something as sloppy as cookie dough. While it didn't look like any actually got on the Moon Senshi, her wings were utterly covered in it, consequently she was cocooned.

For the moment, Mars and ChibiMoon had remained dessert free. Some quick fireballs from Mars had burnt that cookie dough to a crisp, and ChibiMoon was using her mother as a very convenient shield. From her hiding place, ChibiMoon managed to get an attack with her wand to work, and like every other time that it actually worked the demon's complete attention was now utterly focused on that child.

Which gave Mars just the opportunity she needed. Without hesitation, the raven-haired warrior unleashed a Burning Mandela attack. The rings of fire arced in on their target, and then suddenly were batted out of the way by the rolling pin. While very crude thoughts ran through the priestess's mind, the droid advanced on her. Backing up she thought about trying another fireball, or maybe one of her wards.

A series of explosions behind her, threw Rei to the ground. Rolling and quickly getting up to her knees she saw a red haired warrior floating in mid air. "Rubeus." She guessed.

"Very good Sailor Mars. Now be a good Senshi and die." With that, he released another wave of his black energy spheres. Leaping to the side, Mars dodged the attack, and was quickly back on her feet. Sizing up the situation, she realized that she was in quite a bit of trouble. The odds were not with her right now it was two against one. That last attack had caught ChibiMoon and she was out of it. She might be able to hold off against either Rubeus or that demon until the others could get here, but there was no way she could hold out against both of them at the same time.

Rubeus smiled from where he floated. He could easily eliminate Sailor Mars right now, but he had no illusions of living if he did that. While Serenity was good and trapped right now, the anger over the loss of her friend would magnify her strength many fold. No instead, he could only play with Sailor Mars for now. Silently he wondered when that clown Tuxedo-Kamen would arrive.

The droid advanced on Mars, its sword arm now in an attack position. Mars gulped a bit when she saw the blade. However, a flash of red and a shriek of pain signaled the arrival of help.

"Two against one, those are not fair odds. How about I even things up a bit." Tuxedo-Kamen stated from where he stood a top a stove.

Mars gave him a smile of thanks as she watched two more roses fly from his hands. Turning back to her two threats she saw the reason for the shriek of pain. The first rose had shattered that extra large chef knife the droid had for an arm.

With Serenity now released from her trap, Rubeus decided that now might be a very good time to leave. "You may have won this round Sailors, but Tokyo of the past like Crystal Tokyo will fall to us. We will have the rabbit." Rubeus taunted before vanishing.

Freed from her prison, Jupiter caught the eye Mars. No one made threats at their princess or ChibiUsa. Taking their anger out on the only element of the Dark Moon remaining, the two unleashed simultaneous attacks: Mars a fire phoenix and Jupiter her thunder dragon. Quickly flying across the small space of the kitchen the two elementals beasts slammed into the demon, ramming it back into a wall and then through it.

"Oops," was all the two Senshi could say, as they gasped at the hole they had made in the wall. However, the spells were not finished, instead the two creatures began preparing for a second pass. This time as the Thunder Dragon approached, it raised its claws while its massive mouth opened to take a bite out of the droid. Not to be out done, the Fire Phoenix had also brought its talons up into an attack position.

From the sidelines, Serenity dropped her hands down to cover the eyes of ChibiMoon as the two elemental creatures viscously tore into the demon. In a matter of moments, only a pile of dust remained. Both Jupiter and Mars wore stunned expressions, as nothing like that had ever happened before. Their elemental creatures were just a magic spell, just an attack that happened to take the form of a creature. They weren't alive were they? But before either could ponder those questions for much time, they both passed out.

"Mako-chan, Rei-chan!" Serenity cried out as she raced to her fallen comrades. As the two Senshi fell, their protective Senshi magic gave way to their civilian forms. Catching them both, she held them in her arms.

"Mamma what's wrong with them? Are they going to be okay?" asked the child warrior, as she came up by Sailor Moon.

Serenity closed her eyes while she let her senses touch each of the two fallen Senshi in term. Opening her eyes, with a relieved expression, she answered her daughter's question, "They will be fine. They are just drained. Whatever they did with that last attack, they aren't ready for." Sailor Moon replied as she laid the two warriors down on the ground. Placing a hand on each one's chest, she concentrated for a moment, allowing some of her energy to flow into them. Making a decision she placed blocks over the memory of that last spell. It was far too dangerous for either of them to use at this time. They were lucky that the droid was relatively weak, having been hurt by Tuxedo-Kamen. They would have been seriously hurt if their beasts had needed to take a third pass at the droid. As a final act, she recreated the protective magic that took the form of their Senshi uniform.

Sitting back from having been leaning over them, she watched as their eyes opened a moment later. "Ow, did any one get the number of that truck?" Jupiter groggily asked as she attempted to sit up.

"No time for that." Serenity replied, "We need to get going, before they start asking us questions about those holes in the wall."

The two recovering soldiers looked at one of the holes she was talking about and vaguely remembered their final attack knocking the creature through it. "Guess those attacks were a bit much." The two replied with slightly red cheeks. And with that, the warriors left the bakery, never knowing that they had missed something.

*** * * **

Later as the weekend day became night, Rubeus returned to the battle site. Looking at the store, he saw the hole that his droid had left when Mars and Jupiter had knocked it through the wall. The shop's owner had hung a sheet of plastic up over the hole to protect the inside from any foul weather. But he was not interested in any sight seeing.

Moving down to the ground he walked up to the building. Kneeling down on the ground he checked on the other crystal he had left. Satisfied that it was still in one piece he left. _Soon we will have all the energy that we need._

*** * * **

Shortly after Rubeus left the streets of Tokyo, another figure walked out into the night from nowhere. _It looks like they were able to handle this threat with not too much trouble. Feels like it was a regular droid, but I probably should check to make sure. Something here does not feel right. I know that I have felt that energy before, but the fog of being in the timestream is hiding it from me._

Summoning her time staff, she called upon her powers of time. With the Garnet Orb shining bright, she began casting a spell, a spell that did not always worked. It would work if she was meant to know that which she seeked. With a final glow, the energy finished building and the light of the orb became steady. The orb shone a violet glow over the area, but what it illuminated was not the present but the past.

Walking inside of the deserted shop, she watched the battle as it had occurred. _So that is how that hole in the wall got there._ she thought as she watched Mars and Jupiter knock the droid through the wall with their attacks. However, her mood turned sour as she saw that the elemental attacks had not dissipated after the attack. But instead were coming around for a second pass. 

Knowledge coming to her mind, Pluto abruptly spun on her heals, the spell breaking. With deliberate but quick steps she left the site of the battle. Shifting from her Senshi form to her Setsuna guise, the Guardian of time knew where she had to head. While never at a run, the pace of the ever-proper warrior was quite fast.

*** * * **

The sound of someone knocking at the door caused Ikuko to look up from where she was wiping down the kitchen counters. _Hmm, I wonder who that could be at this time of night?_ Quickly rinsing off her hands she went to answer the door.

"Sorry for disturbing you at this time of night Tsukino-san, but I must speak with the princess. It is of utmost importance."

"Hai, Setsuna-san. Usagi is up in her room doing her homework." When Setsuna gave her an unbelieving look, Ikuko added "Well that is what she is supposed to be doing. Who knows what exactly she is doing."

The green haired lady smiled at that, knowing how much Serenity hated doing work in either of her lives. Instead, the princess had a very carefree heart and in many ways was the complete opposite of commander Serenity who had founded the colony, which would in time become the Silver Millennium. But that was of course why the first Serenity was only the basis from which the Ginzuishou worked and not the final product as this Serenity was.

Thanking Ikuko, Setsuna headed up the stairs to the second floor. Finding, Usagi's room she knocked and then entered. There at her desk Usagi sat doodling, the school books of course stacked neatly and untouched to one side. ChibiUsa lay on the bed reading.

"Princess I need to speak with you about today's battle." Pluto said while letting her form shift back.

"ChibiUsa could you read downstairs with my dad for a while?" Usagi asked her daughter.

ChibiUsa looked up to complain, but a look at her mother's eyes and seeing Pluto in her Senshi Fuku made her decide otherwise. Realizing the seriousness of whatever Pluto needed to talk to her mother about, ChibiUsa nodded her add in assent while saying, "Hai."

"That's a good girl." Usagi replied while giving her daughter a kiss on the forehead before showing the child out of the room. Then turning the Moon Princess addressed her visitor. "It is about Mars and Jupiter isn't it?"

"How did you know?" the startled Pluto asked. _This is not good. If she knows, then they might know as well and then..._ Pluto shuddered at that final thought.

"The final spell those two cast was different this time. They both cast their creature spells, but this time they were not one shot deals. The two spirits knocked the droid through the wall, severely hurting it. Then they came around for another pass before finally disappearing with it as they killed it.

"Both of them were badly drained by casting those spells. If the droid had not already been weakened, they would have died. My Senshi may be nearly immortal, but that is only because the energy of their planet sustains them. Drain it by taking too lethal of a blow or by casting too powerful of a spell and the result is the same, they die as there is no energy left to feed their soul. It is what happened to my mother at the end of the Silver Millennium when she used the power of the Ginzuishou, as the spell took all of her energy to cast and unlike the Senshi, she did not have a planet providing her with an energy supply.

"As it was, the only reason they were able to walk away from the battle was because I gave them some of my energy. Otherwise, they would have been in a coma like state for a couple of days. I placed a memory block to make the memories of what happened fuzzy and I told ChibiMoon and Tuxedo-Kamen to never mention what they saw."

_Well that is at least some good news. Only she really knows what happened, well her, Small Lady, and Endymion. The Senshi don't, and that is what matters the most._ Pluto thought. "When the Senshi truly become one with the planet each of them will be able to create an Elemental Familiar. The creature will be energy, created by magic, summoned into existence and then disappeared. But the creature will also be living; it will be a reflection of the true nature of its Senshi.

"However, that level of power will not be needed by your warriors for a long time. Your reign as monarch of Crystal Tokyo will begin and then be passed onto your daughter before an evil comes that requires that power. Till it is needed, do not allow the Senshi to awaken their familiars."

Having said what needed to be said, Pluto made to leave the room. Usagi nodded in agreement, accepting the guidance of the one who knew all time. However, her curiosity was peaked. What could scare Pluto enough, that she did not want these familiars awakened? Oh, Pluto tried to hide it, but Usagi could easily sense how frightened that warrior was. "Pluto if I may ask, why?"

"Minako." was all that Pluto said before leaving the room.

_What does Minako have to do with anything? She is just cheery and at times a bit hyper, even during the Silver Millennium she was the same. Though she might actually have been a bit more extreme in being a little off that way._ Usagi thought trying to puzzle out the riddle of Pluto's answer. _"…it will be a reflection of the true nature of the its Senshi."_ Usagi remembered one of Pluto's statements and then suddenly everything became clear. Her face went white as she realized the horror that would be unleashed on them when this happened, now beginning to understand the depths of Pluto's fright.

-End Chapter 23

**

* * * * *

  
-Yeah another chapter done, unfortunately I won't be able to promise anything better than probably a chapter every six weeks. While when the muse does favor me, I can write quite a bit at a time, it still takes a while to edit that all into a good story (the one disadvantage of long chapters) -For Pluto's sanity you won't be seeing the elemental familiars in this book, could you imagine the horror that would befall the world should a creature of pure concentrated Minako be unleashed. :) -While I have always been available for messaging on AIM (etj4eagle) I have now changed clients to Trillian. This means nothing for those using AIM, but means that if you use Yahoo, MSN, and soon ICQ (once I dig out my member number), you can message me as well. For Yahoo I am also etj4Eagle and MSN it is etj4Eagle@yahoo.com Finally there is a IM client out there that with one interface works with all the various messaging services. -I have discovered that quite a few of the edit dates for the chapters never got adjusted when I copied the headers from older chapters. So if you see a date that doesn't make sense that is what happened. But this chapter's date is correct, it will be posting this on 1/5/02. **


	24. Continuous Fire

1.1 Chapter 24: "Continuous Fire"  
  
"Ok, Ami-chan we are all here now." an impatient Minako said, anxious to head out and go guy hunting.  
  
"Don't worry Mina-chan, I will be quick, I just need to give you all your new communicators."  
  
"Why do we need new ones?" Usagi asked.  
  
"The main reason is so that we can communicate with any military forces that might be deployed. Even though the recent battles have been relatively minor, I do expect that we are going to see Rubeus returning to his more devastating attacks before too long. And just having my computer and Artemis's backpack may be too limiting. So I have made us new communicators that are capable of communication on the encrypted military channels."  
  
"Thank god, I can get rid of that ugly backpack" Artemis happily said from where he sat beside Minako. That comment, however, earned him a bump on the head from his master, who was not pleased with his dislike of her improvement to his backpack.  
  
"Also these communicators are designed to be disguised as watches," Ami said while holding up hers. "Which means that you won't have to dig through your bag to find one." The last bit she said while looking meaningfully at Usagi.  
  
"That did not happen that often." Usagi defended.  
  
"Sure, just those one or two times when we needed you." Rei replied.  
  
This of course prompted Usagi's usual response of how mean Rei was to her and the two girls descended into another one of their arguments, causing the other Senshi to just drop their heads in defeat. Well all except for Setsuna. For the Time Senshi the stress of no longer knowing the future or even just knowing that things would turn out all right in the end was finally getting to her. This argument was just one straw too much and she snapped. Between one moment and the next, she was suddenly behind the two girls both of them up in the air by the necks of their shirts.  
  
Having gotten their attention she simply said, "There will be none of that." then looking over at Ami she said, "Ami-chan you may continue."  
  
"Arigatoo Setsuna-san." Ami replied. "Like I was saying I have a new communicator for each of you that will double as a watch. Only your Senshi energies will activate them. And since Mamoru-san doesn't quite have the same warning of a pending Senshi battle, now that Usagi is Serenity all the time, I have made one for him as well. Luna and Artemis, you two will get yours later, Central Control needs to recharge before it can make anymore."  
  
With that Ami handed out the eight new communicators, she had not made one for ChibiUsa. Except for Mamoru and Haruka, the Senshi looked at their new communicators with some disdain, not quite happy with their large size. Though before long Usagi realized that her glamour magic worked on the communicator as well. Happy with her discovery she changed it into a more appropriately sized watch.  
  
"Ah, Ami-chan, I hate to break this to you but these "watches" are just a tad bit on the large size." Michiru politely stated.  
  
"Yeah I know, but this is the smallest that I could get the communicators. Even Silver Millennium technology has its limits." Ami replied. Of course, her response did nothing to remove the five disproving looks she was receiving.  
  
"But yours is small." Minako replied, confused.  
  
"Is it?" Ami asked as her simple small watch suddenly enlarged to the size of the other communicators. "Just like how we cast a glamour spell to disguise ourselves in our Senshi forms, you can cast a glamour spell on the communicator as well, allowing you to make it smaller. Or if you don't want a watch and instead want a bracelet you can do that as well." As Ami said the last bit, her communicator shimmered again before becoming a silver bracelet. "Of course it will take some time to get comfortable with the magics."  
  
Soon after that, the meeting broke up, with the Senshi, except for Usagi and Setsuna, still trying to figure out how to get their communicators to adjust as they left. As Haruka and Michiru headed towards Haruka's sports car, Setsuna approached them. "I don't know how much of your memories from the Silver Millennium have returned, but it is time to begin your training as Guardians of the Solar System. Your path lies along a different direction from that of the Royal Guard." Setsuna told them.  
  
Not missing a beat Haruka replied, "That is why we knew that there was an alien presence from outside the solar system when that meteor crashed."  
  
"Hai, the two of you stood guard in the outer solar system watching for threats from the outside. As such, your powers were stronger then those of inner planets who protected the queen and then when her child was born, the princess exclusively. I similarly stood a solo guard, in my case guarding against those who would use time to attack the Silver Millennium."  
  
Michiru nodded in agreement with what Setsuna was saying. "The whisper from the waves had implied as much." Then gesturing to Setsuna, they all got into the car. As they headed towards Michiru's house, Michiru continued. "There is something else as well. I felt a building urgency in the seas, a new threat coming?" she ended with a question.  
  
"It is possible, I don't know. The flow of time has become too muddled. What was once the right path is now a path to damnation. But I do know that the talismans will be sought after soon, and that the Messiah of Silence will have to be faced and the Messiah of Light found. And that a force from outside our galaxy will begin searching for the Messiah of Silence's power soon."  
  
Haruka and Michiru listened to Setsuna as half remembered memories and feelings came to mind. Till now the only clear memory of their past life had been their princess, a bright light in the fog of their past. But with Setsuna's words, memories of a warrior that could bring the Silver Millennium to its knees if she/he ever awoke came back. They could not remember anything about this warrior, only that during the Silver Millennium even the Senshi feared him/her. Additionally they remembered Pluto in the past personally training them to the strong warriors that they were.  
  
The two of them had been unusual amongst the Sol Senshi, two Senshi born within the same year, a strange occurrence that would be repeated only one other time with the birth of the final Serenity and the Senshi of Venus occurring less than a month apart. Of course, in that case, Serenity was not a Senshi, and the Moon Queens lived nowhere as long as a Senshi. But with Uranus and Neptune their near simultaneous birth posed a significant problem, who to train them. They normally trained each other, being that there was usually at least a few hundred years in age between the two. But not this time, and since they had different powers and responsibilities than the Royal Guard, they unfortunately couldn't really be trained by any of those four either.  
  
The problem of their training had perplexed Sailor Venus and the Queen and had remained unresolved. Without an answer, Venus and Lord Artemis had undertaken the task of training the two children in fighting techniques and creating the matrix of spells that would form their Sailor Fuku. As they approached their 14th birthdays with only two years remaining before they would officially take their places as Senshi no solution had been found. But then out of the blue a solution presented herself; Pluto appeared, leaving her post at the Gate of Spacetime for something other than a coronation for the first time in generations. From that day forward, Pluto took Princesses Uranus and Neptune as her apprentices and trained them in the ways of the System Guardians, building a trust and understanding that would transcend death.  
  
  
  
Engrossed in manga, Usagi laid sprawled out on one of Minako's couches. Minako had quite a collection of Sailor V manga, while Usagi did not know for sure, she hazard a guess that Minako had to have nearly every one ever published. Minako even had some issues that she had never even heard about. Even though she had her favorite super hero there in the room next to her, something about the Sailor V in the manga still called to her and she devoured every issue she could get a hold of.  
  
Luna just sighed from where she was laying on top of the couch watching the two Senshi. Those two are so alike. I can't understand how they can still hero worship heroes that they know to be themselves. The duality of this gives me headaches at times. Though, I guess it does help to keep others from guessing that two of the most avid fans of Sailor V and Sailor Moon are non other than those warriors.  
  
As the hall clock chimed the hour, Minako put down the Sailor V manga she was reading and walked over to the TV. Turning it on, she returned to the couch with the remote, while taking out a notebook and pencil. Luna was intrigued when she saw Minako pull out the notebook and decided to see what Minako was planning on watching. While this was going on Artemis also came over from his nap in the sun to sit with his charge.  
  
Luna's attempts to follow what Minako was watching did not last even a minute. Instead, the constant flashing images from continuous channel changing caused her to look away. Ugh, a channel surfer. And she's worse than most, I can't even tell what's on any of those channels before she moves on. Though it does prove what I have suspected with Artemis, he really is easily riveted by flashing lights. If Luna had been able to follow Minako's channel surfing she would have noticed a very specific pattern. Minako only switched through the news channels. She had picked up this habit back during her days as Sailor V when many of the Dark Kingdom's operations appeared to be nothing more than standard criminal activity at first.  
  
That of course being why some seemed to think of her as a crime fighter, if only they knew. Since those operations were disguised as standard fare crime, the various media outlets often picked up on them before she did. Using them as a source, she would watch the news programs. However, rarely did one station report all the tail-tell signs of a Dark Kingdom plot, instead each station would cover a different aspect that when viewed all together gave away the Dark Kingdom. But the only way to get that big picture was to watch all the broadcasts. One option was to tape each one and then spend all day watching them; the other was just to watch them all at once.  
  
Not expecting Minako to do the impossible and watch all the broadcasts at once, Artemis had provided her with a nifty little device from Central Control. That little doohickey when placed in the VCR allowed her to record a dozen channels at once. But being a teenager, she wanted her nights' time free to go boy hunting. Consequently, she had started channel surfing and over time found herself to be quite good at it. Now she changed channels so frequently that only Artemis could keep up. This behavior did have one nice side effect, it caused her parents to leave the room when she watched TV in the afternoon and consequently they had no idea what she was watching.  
  
"Wait, what's that?" Minako asked, getting the attention of the others.  
  
"Yeah, something does not seem right." Artemis replied agreeing with his charge.  
  
Taking out another remote, Minako began using the advanced features of her VCR. Quickly she found the news segments she was interested in. One after the other, reports from various news agencies came up about a bus carrying school children being found on the side of the road with everyone unconscious.  
  
"What is it?" asked a confused Usagi.  
  
"It's those aliens." Luna replied. "They are ambushing buses carrying school children and then draining their energy."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"This appears to be the second instance. They will probably try again. We should have Ami-chan see if she can find a common thread between the two attacks, so that we can put a stop to it."  
  
"Hai." The others agreed and Luna left to find Ami.  
  
  
  
Two days later Minako and Usagi stood in a park watching a group of kindergartners play. They unfortunately had to let another group be attacked yesterday before Ami could make any guess as to where they would attack next. As it was, her computer program still came up with 4 different possible locations.  
  
Minako had paired them off to cover the four areas. Mars had complained loudly about not being paired with Usagi. However, Usagi wanted the Fire Senshi to be guarding her daughter. She could take care of herself, plus Mars needed to learn that the other Senshi were equally capable of watching her. Of course, it would be nice if they would realize that I can look after myself.  
  
With their group starting to gather to leave on the bus, Minako nodded to her partner. Then catching the pen like object that Usagi tossed at her, Minako disguised herself as a teacher. Usagi of course did not need the pen anymore, being able to use the Ginzuishou to cast glamour spells and in this case she just needed to modify her current glamour spell. All set, the two boarded the bus.  
  
Usagi sat down in her seat next to the window. Tuning out the noise of the children, she opened her mind hoping to get a hint of the enemy before they attacked. Minako for her part was excitedly talking with one of the kids about her favorite Senshi. If Usagi had been paying attention to what Minako was saying she would have had a hard time not strangling that girl. Minako was treading the line just a wee bit too closely.  
  
A sudden lurch brought all conversations on the bus to an end and instead replaced them with a nervous silence. Looking over to where Minako sat on the bus, Usagi caught the blonde's eye. She herself had only felt the enemy's presence moments before the lurch, so much for trying to get an advanced warning.  
  
Standing up, the two walked to the front of the bus. Checking on the driver, they found him to be unconscious but otherwise okay. They could not find any indication of what knocked the driver out, though the windshield had been smashed by whatever it was. Opening the bus's door, they started to leave.  
  
Pausing for a moment, Minako addressed the children. "Minna-san stay in your seats. Everything will be okay, we are just going to go check things out."  
  
Murmurs of "I'm scared," "Mommy," "And did they both have to go." Came from the children as the two left the bus.  
  
Getting off the bus, the two took just a moment to look at each other before calling forth their powers to form the protective magic of their Senshi uniforms. Ready to find the enemy and put a stop to these bus attacks, they bounded up onto the roof of the bus. There to the side of the bus they saw the enemy's Cardian, the bus itself had spun almost crosswise to the tunnel when the driver was hit.  
  
"Children are our future, they are innocent and do not deserve to be subjugated to the horrors of battle." Sailor Venus called out. "I am Sailor Venus and in the name of the planet Venus."  
  
"And the Moon." Sailor Moon added, letting Venus have the honor of making the speech, "We will punish you."  
  
"You puny humans think that you can stop us?" question Ail. "Think again brats."  
  
Seeing the creature unleash an energy attack at the busload of children, Sailor Moon dropped to the ground while throwing her arms out wide as she called the Ginzuishou to life to form a shield to protect the children. Venus for her part leapt off the bus and as she reached the apex of her jump unleashed a Crescent Beam. The creature easily dodged the attack, not that she had expected to hit it, only distract it. Landing she prepared to use her Love-Me Chain, but a quick counter attack from the creature caught her off guard. Quickly dropping and rolling to one side, Venus managed to barely dodge the attack as a chunk was knocked out of the tunnel's wall This one is obviously playing for keeps.  
  
As Venus and the Cardian exchanged blows back and forth, it quickly became evident that the two were very evenly matched. Sailor Moon would have gone to her friend's aid but unfortunately, the two aliens had decided to participate in this battle. Not any kind of participation that would put them in any real danger, but one that kept her fully occupied. The busload of kids made a very convenient set of hostages and consequently they sending a series of low energy attacks at the kids, most being energy drains. The result was that she could do nothing but stand her ground and maintain the shield. She just hoped that she would be able to hold out long enough, maintaining this shield was tiring.  
  
"Why won't you die?" Venus cursed at the demon after it had once again knocked her down to the ground. This time she unfortunately had had a bit too much momentum and had skidded into Sailor Moon's shield, and boy did that hurt. Rubbing her sore shoulder, she got back to her feet. She could smell the charred Fuku and only hoped that her skin had fared a little better, but did not hold out much hope for that.  
  
Trying her Love-Me Chain again, she lashed it out at the creature's legs, hoping to get it off balance. Unfortunately, it saw what she was doing and leapt to the side, narrowly avoiding her attack. Damn, what am I doing wrong? I just hope that Usagi has called the others. Rei is going to kill me. But its not like we had any choice other than splitting up like this, unless we wanted to leave some children unwatched.  
  
A flash of red brought the battle to a halt. "Sailor Moon, Sailor Venus believe in yourselves. You have a power deep down inside waiting for the right moment to be released. Fight for the children." The tuxedo clad warrior said from atop the bus.  
  
"Hai" Venus replied to his inspirational speech even though she had no clue as to what the heck he was talking about. Then remembering that new attack she had used not too long ago, she summoned a meteor shower of crescent beams. This time, though, the shower was a bit less intense, but still sufficient to knock the Cardian back against the far wall. "Yes!" Venus happily cried when she saw the results.  
  
The sound of the bus starting up behind her let Sailor Moon know that it was safe to drop her shield. Tuxedo-Kamen had boarded the bus and had taken over for the knocked out driver. Letting out a little gasp of relief in being able to drop the shield spell, Sailor Moon walked towards the Cardian as she produced her Eternal Tier. Finding a renewed sense of energy with the end of the battle in sight stood straight and said, "This ends here."  
  
With the base of her staff extending down to the tunnel floor, Sailor Moon closed her eyes and let the power of the moon flow into her body. She could feel its warm embraces as the energy built, penetrating every fiber of her body, as she and the energy seemed to become one. But in the warmness of the Moon's energy, she suddenly began to feel that something was wrong. She could not place the feeling, entranced as she was by the Moon's song. The sense of wrongness quickly became more than just a feeling as her world began to spiral out of control, a spiral of energy that trapped her mind and essence.  
  
Venus watched happily, from where she stood a few paces from the stunned Cardian as Sailor Moon began her attack. This will end it. Hmm, I wonder, if those aliens don't leave soon they may get taken out as well, since she doesn't seem to aim that attack. That would help simplify things. However a touch of worry crossed her happiness as she saw her princess grimace. She, however, was not given any opportunity to ponder its meaning, as her world suddenly went dark as a shearing light exploded out from her princess.  
  
  
  
Ail and Ann watched in fascination as the winged warrior pulled out a staff. With the bus of children gone and the other mage warrior finally getting the upper hand on their Cardian, they both knew that the battle was over. These bus attacks had been quite successful; they had gotten three busloads of children without any interference. Unfortunately, it seemed that each successive collection of energy was of lower quality. The tree was no longer getting any stronger, instead just barely surviving. They needed to figure out what had changed otherwise it would die.  
  
Even though they knew this battle was a lost cause, they had decided to stay as long as possible to learn as much as they could about their enemies. Like Venus, the sudden discharge of energy caught them off guard. However, they had been expecting some kind of attack and had already erected low-level shield spells. Spells that they quickly called to full power as they teleported while the blast flung them like rag dolls. Even with their shields, they could still feel the energy both caressing them with warmness and burning away at them.  
  
Then it was over and they were back in their apartment. Standing up they looked themselves over and counted themselves to be lucky. Except for some bruises, they two aliens were unhurt. That surprised them, as they had not expected to escape alive from that explosion of energy.  
  
  
  
Erupting from Sailor Moon a wave of energy exploded in all directions. Unlike the gentle caress of her normal attack with the Eternal Tier, this one tore away from its master devouring everything it found in its path. Cars were tossed about like rag dolls, while the pavement below buckled and melted, and tiles were ripped off the tunnel's walls. The tunnel confined and redirected the energy, resulting in explosions just as powerful as the original one erupting from either end of the tunnel. For Tokyo, it was as if two massive bombs had gone off.  
  
Driving the children to safety, Tuxedo-Kamen had only just left the tunnel when Sailor Moon began her attack to finish of the Cardian. This unfortunately meant that the bus was directly in line for the resulting shockwave. Though he was also lucky as the bus was still edge on to the tunnel. Struggling for control, Tuxedo-Kamen relied on his fighting instincts to keep the bus upright and forwent his earlier caution and put the petal to the metal in hope of lessening the shearing forces.  
  
Sideswiping some cars, he somehow miraculously managed to keep the bus upright, though not exactly on the road. While it took only seconds for the shockwave to overtake the bus, it felt like an eternity to him. When it was finally over, he let the bus come to a rest against a building. Feeling exhausted from that ordeal he got up and turned to look at the children.  
  
As much as he desired to run back into that tunnel to check on his Usako, he knew he couldn't. His duty was to these children who were now under his protection. "Minna-san, is everybody ok?" he asked.  
  
While some of the kids had tears of fright in their eyes and some looked badly banged up, they all nodded or otherwise indicated that they were okay. One good thing about kids is that they are very resilient. Just need to keep them from getting too scared and things should be okay. "Why don't we leave bus and go find someplace more comfortable to be. Plus I think you all deserve a treat."  
  
The reaction to his carrot was instantaneous. Instantly the mood and energy in the bus increased ten fold and the kids grabbed their book bags and lined up behind him. Smiling he pushed open the bus door and led his troop out on the streets. Unnoticed by him as he left the bus his form shifted from his tuxedo outfit to the armor that denoted the Earth Prince. However, the kids saw the change and came even more excited and having fun, they decided to fall in line and march behind their knight in shining armor.  
  
Sighting an ice cream parlor up ahead he lead his group there, figuring that should be a comforting enough venue. Entering the store, he ushered his charges into some free booths near the back of the store, to avoid annoying the other patrons too much. Motoki will kill me if he ever finds out I brought this much business to a competitor.  
  
  
  
The late afternoon was normally a slow time for the Zocalo Ice Cream Parlor. In a few hours once people had dinner and began heading out for a night on the town, things would begin to pick up. But for now, Corwin had but a few customers. Hearing a massive explosion, he instinctively ducked down behind the counter. However, he was far enough away that all he knew about the incident was the large explosion and the rattling of his windows.  
  
Or, that would have been the case if ten minutes later a man wearing armor and escorting a bunch of beat up kids had not entered his shop. At first all he saw was the man, and was wondering why someone would be dressed up in such a crazy outfit. But then he saw the children. He could see the scrapes and bruises on their faces and suddenly realized that this guy must be related to those Sailor Senshi.  
  
Getting up from behind the counter, he followed the group. "How may I help you?" he asked when they had found their seats.  
  
"A cone of their favorite ice-cream or sherbet for each of the kids." Endymion replied. Then thinking about dealing their injuries he added. "Oh and could you bring over a few bowls of warm water. And when you get the chance could you let the police know that I have a busload of children here that need to be picked up. I am not quite sure where they were headed, only that they were attacked."  
  
"Hai," Corwin replied before pulling out a pad of paper to get all the ice- cream orders. Well so much for this being a nice slow late afternoon.  
  
With the arrival of the bowls of warm water and the first aid kit he had brought from the bus, Endymion began treating the various injuries. The kids whimpered a bit as he cleaned their wounds and disinfected them, he hated to think what kind of germs might be on a public bus, especially one that frequently carried children. However, the pending arrival of ice cream kept them from putting up too much of a fuss. Thankfully, the children had escaped with only scrapes, some small cuts, and some minor bruises injuries that he was able to treat easily enough. And he had a feeling that by the time their parent's came to pick them up, the kids would have completely forgotten the horrors of the afternoon. Instead, they would only remember the positives, being able to see personally see the Sailor Senshi in action.  
  
Finished with all the kids, he packed up what remained of the first aid kit. Heading up to the counter, he ordered himself an ice-cream soda before settling the tab. He probably could have gotten away without pay for the stuff; he could see the conflicted look in the attendant's eyes when he went to pay the bill. However, he had no problem paying the tab, even though with the couple dozen kids it was a fair bit, so he gave Corwin no chance to object.  
  
Now with everything taken care of, Endymion returned to his charges with his drink in hand and sat down. Now he just had to wait for someone else of authority to take the children. How hard could it be to watch a group of children he thought. Boy was he mistaken. Almost immediately after returning to the table, the questions began. At first, it was simple requests to see his sword and his magic, so he showed them the sword and created a few roses. But then the questions became real; with the children wanting to know why he was now wearing armor instead of the Tuxedo, all about the Sailor Senshi, was Sailor Moon his girlfriend (with strong cootie emphasis on the that last word).  
  
By the time the police finally arrived, he figured that he had told them practically everything he knew about the Sailor Senshi and his past life. Of course, that was not sufficient for them, so he also had to speculate and ponder some aspects of this part of his life. Who would have guessed that those kids could ask such sophisticated questions? For every silly question they asked, they had a good one that I had never thought about before. We do not give them enough credit for their intelligence. They may have a limited vocabulary, but maybe it's their unfettered imagination that allows them to ask all those questions.  
  
Walking over to the tunnel, he passed various clean up crews trying to get the road ready for travel again. He found out from one engineer there that the tunnel would likely be closed for the rest of the week, the roadway needed some repairs and they needed time to inspect the tunnel wall to make sure it had not been compromised. He already knew that Usako was gone and from the direction of her pull, she was probably at home and gauging from the feeling of the link asleep as well. Thinking back, a moment he realized that she had been asleep since just before the blast. Strange. However, he also knew that she had not been harmed.  
  
  
  
Ami sat on a park bench typing away at her computer, playing around with it in an attempt to learn whatever she could. With the aid of her mini- computer, her memories of the Silver Millennium were beginning to come back. Unfortunately some kind of security lockout prevented her from browsing through information, instead she need to specifically request it. This of course made the process of relearning everything she had once known a frustratingly slow process.  
  
Taking a break from her studies, she put down her computer and looked out at the children. Things had been very peaceful at this park, though the children's bus was a little on the late side. An insistent beeping drew her attention back to the computer. Acknowledging the alarm, she frowned as she began to read the various alerts that had suddenly popped up. Furiously typing away, she tried to make sense out of them.  
  
"What's up Ami-chan?" asked Makoto having seen her friend's sudden sour expression that was now deepening.  
  
For a few moments Ami did not respond, however when she did it was not an answer that Mako was expecting. "Henshin, no time to waste." was all that her friend said as she activated her own transformation in the middle of the park.  
  
That caught Makoto's attention and she quickly followed suit and then hurried to catch up with the blue haired warrior. Hopefully nobody there knew us. Otherwise, our little secret is out. Something must be very wrong, for Ami to be so careless like that.  
  
As Jupiter pulled up with her friend, Mercury said, "I have already called the others." With a leap, the two of them took to the roofs. "My computer just registered a major explosion of energy that matches Sailor Moon's. I'm not sure of anything else, other than this. The energy that was released was on par with what she used in our last battle, however this time it was an uncontrolled release."  
  
Jupiter gulped when she heard Mercury's explanation. Not good.  
  
  
  
Within quick succession of each other, the Sailor Senshi arrived on top of a building over looking an entrance to the tunnel. Down below them, ambulances and fire trucks had already arrived on the scene. Dropping to the ground, they moved in amongst the emergency crews. Thankfully, unlike the last time in which Neptune and Uranus had to force their way through, a path was opened for the Sailor Senshi.  
  
Walking in they could not help but to gasp. The walls were charred and sections of the concrete road had been ripped up and flung out of the tunnel. And there near the center of the destruction were two bodies, one on the ground and the other up against a wall. Except for the two still forms, nothing else was still in the tunnel, having been blown out by the blast.  
  
Mercury quickly ran up to the princess who was no longer in her Senshi uniform. Bringing out her computer, she ran some scans. "She is okay, just very drained. Uranus, Neptune can you take Usagi home. ChibiMoon go with them." ChibiMoon tried to protest, but was stopped by the look that Mercury gave her, which gave Neptune all the time she needed to snatch up the little warrior into her arms. Then along with Uranus who was carrying the unconscious princess, the two left.  
  
With that taken care of, Mercury turned to examine Venus. She had known at first glance that Venus was much worse off. She had not wanted ChibiUsa to see Venus and that was one of the reasons why she had gone to Serenity first. The other was that as much as it might hurt to admit it, her first duty was to the princess and then to the others. It did not matter if the princess looked like she was not seriously injured, until she was certain of that she could not be distracted by the injuries of the others. They all knew that, their princess's life came before their own or anyone else, even if Usagi might try to persuade them otherwise.  
  
Deploying her visor, she let her computer do a detailed scan of Venus. This was going to be very tricky, as Venus was not on the ground, but in the wall. The force of the blast had been sufficient to smash her far enough into the wall that she had remained there and had not fallen back out. As her computer finished its analysis, Mercury let out a little sigh of relief. In as much as anything good could be said about Minako's condition, she was still alive and likely to remain that way. Additionally she did not have any serious broken bones, none that would complicate the extrication process.  
  
"Mars go grab me a backboard." Mercury ordered.  
  
Concerned for her friend, Mars quickly left to find a backboard. Unsure of what one even looked like, she headed towards the nearest ambulance. Arriving there, she told them what she needed and then was running back with the ambulance's crew and equipment in tow. She might not have asked for their help, but they knew that if there was an injury serious enough to require a backboard, then they were going to be needed.  
  
When Mars returned with the board, Mercury had Jupiter and Mars hold it up against Venus's back while she began casting spells. Each spell she cast slowly, checking and double-checking her progress with each step. Finally, ten minutes later, she was satisfied.  
  
"Ok, Venus is now secured, you can slowly bring the board down." Mercury instructed. "Ok, good… A bit slower…" the ice warrior instructed as the other four (the two Senshi on the two from the ambulance) lowered the board to the horizontal. A thin sheet of ice covered Venus and attached her to the backboard.  
  
With the unconscious Senshi extricated from the wall, the ambulance crew navigated the board to board with Venus over to the gurney. Moving to secure their patient to the gurney, the sheet of ice covering Venus gave them pause. However, Mercury quickly removed that problem as she waved her hand dissipating the spells. Now once again in familiar territory, the crew began securing the patient and checking her vital signs.  
  
"You just need to stabilize her condition, her other injuries will heal on their own." Mercury stated  
  
The crew nodded their assent, even though they found it hard to believe that the massive burns and abrasions that the warrior had would heal on their own. But that was not their call anyways; their job was to do what they could to stabilize the patient and to get her to the hospital as soon as possible. The doctors there would decide what to do about the other injuries. They were not surprised when that blue warrior joined them in the ambulance.  
  
"Mars, Jupiter you two head on back. You are going to need to keep Serenity from coming after Venus. Plus there is always the possibility that Rubeus may attack." Mercury called out as the doors to the ambulance closed.  
  
-End chapter 24  
  
Author Notes:  
  
-In an attempt to actually put out something, I have broken this chapter into two parts. These two chapters are currently 40 pages long, though even with this break the next chapter is going to be a long one again. Might end up breaking it up again. The one problem with long chapters is that they take forever to edit. Guess I should review how I wrote the earlier chapters, since I was much better at finding stopping points there. (  
  
-For those wondering about the chapter title it is an inside B5 joke/tribute. You see "Ah hell" is Minbari for "Continuous Fire," as one B5 commander accidentally found out at one point when she muttered that phrase while on the bridge of a White Star.  
  
-And for the record Corwin is a reference to Lt Corwin of Babylon 5. And Zocalo refers to the Zocalo marketplace on B5.  
  
-Thankfully also finally managed to get those new communicators distributed, only took what a few chapters?  
  
-Up next more of the fallout Sailor Moon's imitation of a bomb, and after that its time for Ail and Ann's visit to Earth to come to a head. 


	25. The Very Long Night of Mizuno-san

The Fragility of Time  
  
BOOK TWO: "Falling Towards Apotheosis"  
  
Chapter 25 "The Very Long Night of Mizuno-san"  
  
Author: etj4Eagle  
  
Email: etj4Eagle@yahoo.com  
  
http://www.geocities.com/etj4eagle  
  
Lasted Edited: 3/22/02  
  
Disclaimer: A reminder I own none of the characters of this story,  
  
all rights are owned by others. However, the unique circumstances  
  
of the story are mine. If you distribute the story, do only  
  
so freely and inform me of where you post it.  
  
  
  
1.1 Chapter 25: "The Very Long Night of Mizuno-san"  
  
Racing through the streets of Tokyo, an ambulance sped towards the nearest hospital. Normally it would have raced a little slower, but there are some patients for whom one needs to take the extra risk to shave precious minutes of the transit times, and a critically injured Sailor Senshi was one of those. She appeared to be alive more as a result that the fact that she should be dead hadn't sunk in than anything else.  
  
Reaching the hospital in half his normal time, the driver backed into the ambulance bay. Before the ambulance had even come to a complete stop, the paramedic had thrown open the back doors and jumped out. By the time the driver made it around to the back ten seconds later, the paramedic and Sailor Mercury had already removed Sailor Venus.  
  
Moving as fast as they could, the three burst into the hospital where the ambulance crew handed off the patient to the emergency room doctors. Letting a nurse take the gurney from her, Mercury continued to follow Venus into one of the rooms. However, before she could enter the room, an attempted to accost her, "Hey you there, only authorized personal are allowed beyond this area."  
  
Mercury however ignored his protests as she instead knocked him out of her way and into a wall. So focused was she on Venus that Mercury did not even realize how rough she had been with that orderly, nor what happened when she pushed him out of her way. Standing out of the way, she watched as the doctors and nurses began taking Venus's vital signs while preparing her for any surgery that might need to be done. As serious as the situation was a slight smile crossed her lips as she saw one of them attempt to cut Venus's fuku, the shears did not survive the attempt.  
  
Attempting to think of a way to allow the doctors to operate on Venus, she was interrupted when the lead doctor noticed her presence. Like the orderly moments earlier, he tried to use his authority to tell her to leave. There is no way that I am going to leave Venus alone, anyways I know what is wrong with her far better than they do. "I am not leaving and don't think of calling security, as that won't work. I wonder, how many of you here know anything about Sailor Senshi physiology? We may be human, but our powers complicate matters. Treat the wrong wounds and you will be just wasting your time. Plus you need me to deactivate her shield spells."  
  
Thinking about what the blue haired warrior had said the doctors had to admit that she did speak the truth. Until now, they had just assumed that there was nothing different between this patient and any other one, but if there were substantial physiological differences that would pose a problem. And the mangled pair of sheers that one of the nurses held up proved that they needed help at least in that department. Conceding the lead doctor said, "Point taken, you may remain here as long as you don't get in the way. Now wash up and put some scrubs on."  
  
Well I can do one step better. Mercury thought to herself while mentally calling upon her power. With a blue glow, her body lit up as her Senshi uniform changed from a battle outfit to a doctor's scrubs (in light blue and white of course) and the magic field reorganized itself to form a sterile barrier after giving a pulse of energy to kill any microbes on her body. "How's that?" she asked feeling a bit pleased with herself.  
  
The others looked on in surprise at the warrior's transformation, but quickly shook the shock off and got back down to work. Walking over to Venus while deploying her visor, she scanned the unconscious warrior and frowned. This would be a lot easier if I had let Usagi come with me to the hospital. As princess, she has the ability to take control of our uniform energy matrixes, and can therefore cause us to henshin or de-henshin on her command (using the Ginzuishou of course). I just hope this doesn't hurt Venus too much. Not having the powers of the planets tied into her birthright like Serenity, Mercury could only take down Venus's shield by one method, the same method that any enemy would use. "Forgive me for what I am about to do Mina-chan." Mercury whispered.  
  
Closing her eyes, she stretched out her arms and focused on her connection to her other self while calling out "Mercury Power!" to aid in the focusing. Responding to its spirit's call, the energy of Mercury flooded into her body. With her heart crystal already saturated with its normal level of energy, the new influx leaked out to course up and down her body, causing her to glow a pale blue. As it was only lightly bonded to her body, some of the energy rose away causing a wind to pick up in the ER. Only seconds into the channeling, Ami could feel her senses burn from controlling all that energy, while below her the floor began to crack and crumble. However, she just gritted her teeth and struggled to channel even more energy. Then when she could finally hold no more energy at ready, she placed her hands on Venus's chest and unleashed the built up store in a single bright ice-blue flash.  
  
The energy shot down her arms, into her hands, and from there across Venus's body. Still maintaining tight control of the pure elemental energy, she allowed it to only graze the skin, not to penetrate. Racing as it did across Venus's skin only nanometers from the surface, its energy was fully absorbed by the unconscious warrior's "shield" spells. Then in a flash of golden light the energy matrix overloaded, collapsing, the Senshi Fuku vanished to be replaced by a teenager's clothing.  
  
Ami held her breath as the collapse proceeded, watching the progress on her visor. It was key that only one of the normal Senshi spells collapsed, the one that protected Minako in battle. Some of the others did not matter, but the glamour spell had to remain up otherwise Aino Minako would be revealed to the world as Sailor Venus. As the collapse ended she was able to breath normally again, the gamble had worked. Her scans showed no more damage to Venus and that the glamour spell was still active.  
  
"What?" one of the others asked after calming his racing heart from the light show.  
  
"The only way that a protection spell can be dropped involuntarily is to overload it, which is what I just did. Her clothes changed because those are what she was wearing before her henshin." Mercury explained  
  
"Are you all right?" another one of the doctor asked as he noticed that Mercury was not looking too good. Thankfully, her condition looked bad enough that he did not wait for an answer and managed to be in place catch her as her legs gave out. Supporting Mercury, he guided her over to a chair.  
  
"Arigatoo," Mercury replied, thanking the doctor. "Overloading the protection spells took almost more energy than I had to give. I should have done it back at the tunnel, before her protection magic was able to fully recharge." Hopefully I will never have to do something like this for Usagi or Pluto, Pluto two of us working together we might be able to handle, but I am not sure if all of us together could do the same for Usagi. Ami thought, before continuing, "I will be fine in a few minutes, however I can still use my computer to help guide you."  
  
At first, the staff did not believe that Mercury could possibly diagnose Venus from that distance, but after double-checking some of the stats she gave them, they accepted that that little handheld computer was a medical wonder. Of course if the full extent of the ailments that Mercury read off were to be believed it was a miracle that the blonde was even still breathing. Though at the same time her condition was a lot better then they would have expected for someone found embedded in a cement wall.  
  
As the list ailments grew, the doctors came to appreciate what being a Sailor Senshi meant. There were multiple cracked bones, lacerations, some internal bleeding, torn tissue and organs, and the girl's back was a mess of second and third degree burns. Then to top that off, that blue haired warrior told them to ignore many of the wounds and for others just a simple treatment was all that was needed. Though she did have them do some surgery to patch up the damage to her internal organs, the worst of her injuries.  
  
Three hours later the crew finished up their work, Venus's condition was stabilized. Venus would be in and out of consciousness for the rest of the day. But more importantly for Mercury in a few hours, the critical point would be passed. Minako currently still could not live with her injuries; the energy of Venus was keeping her alive. But from the work the doctor's had done, and the limited healing that Venus's energy could do she would soon be able to support her own life. Once that happened, all her Senshi powers could be devoted to regeneration.  
  
Well except for those maintaining her disguise and the pending reactivation of her protective magic. That was one complication that Mercury had forgotten about at first. Thankfully, her computer had sounded an alert as Venus's body began pooling the energy to reform the Senshi Fuku and its protective spells. By not giving a blow to Venus herself, she had not shattered the henshin spell. Consequently, the spells attempted to reform themselves on their own, which was a problem. Thankfully, an ice brace that she formed around one of Venus's wrists provided a sufficient energy drain to prevent that. Ami hated having to hurt Minako even more, but it had been the only way to ensure that the blond would live through the night.  
  
As an orderly took the patched up Venus to one of the recovery rooms, Mercury dispelled the ice restraint. She figured it would take about another ten minutes or so before Venus's Senshi Fuku reformed.  
  
Following Mercury out of the ER, the head doctor said, "Thanks for your help miss Mercury. I would not have thought it possible to save your friend. You know you should consider a career in medicine."  
  
"Thank you for the compliment. Medicine is my dream, or at least it was before who I am caught up with me." The last part Mercury said while gesturing at her outfit, which had returned to the standard Senshi fare.  
  
In response to the inquisitive look the doctor gave her, Mercury continued, "This was a destiny that I was born with twice, to carry the power of Mercury for as long as I live. Why I was chosen I do not know, but through my soul I can feel my guardian planet watching over, and aiding me. When I pass beyond, another baby will born and take my place as the Warrior for Mercury. Though at least for them they won't live 14 years not knowing their destiny."  
  
With that, a slightly sad Mercury said goodbye to her new friend and headed towards the cafeteria. While she did not regret being a Sailor Senshi, and would not trade it for anything, Usagi meant too much and had given her too much for it to be any other way, she was also saddened that she her dreams would go unfulfilled. She knew the others did not see it that way, but her rational mind had already analyzed it all. She would always be a warrior and a simple quiet medical practice would never satisfy her now. No the closest she would ever be able to get to medicine would be as a combat medic, her sense of duty would see to that. But if it was fighting for her princess then that would be more than enough.  
  
By the time Ami ended her self-reflection about the change in her future, she had cheered herself back up. Like the other Senshi, no matter how dark the situation seemed, knowing that it was Usagi they were risking their life for made everything seem better. Hearing her stomach growl Ami realized that she had better do a better job of finding that cafeteria, it was almost eight after all. Now paying attention to where she was going, Ami noticed that people were looking at her funny. Of course, when she realized the why, she felt like whacking herself on the head with a book. Had almost forgotten that I was in my Senshi form. The people back in the ER and probably those up in the wing where they are putting Minako know why I am here. But unless I want to start a panic or a fan riot, I should do something about my appearance. With the security cameras, I can't risk returning to my civilian form. Plus, my mom works at this hospital and someone might recognize me. Well there is one option. Her mind made up Mercury released the protective Senshi magic while maintaining the glamour spell which blurred her appearances just enough. However, instead of returning to her civilian clothes, deciding that to be too risky, she instead let the magic reform as a dress that she might wear while on official state business back during the Silver Millennium, that being not too far from the truth.  
  
  
  
Leaving the tunnel, Uranus carried the unconscious princess in her arms while Neptune and ChibiMoon followed. Mercury had told the two them to take the princesses home, however dropping by the Tsukino residence in their Senshi forms probably would not be the best of ideas. So instead, they headed back to where Haruka had parked her car that afternoon. Finding a secluded spot by the car the three conscious warriors dropped their magic and walked casually to the car.  
  
Even though Haruka, Michiru, and ChibiUsa were back to their civilian forms, they still needed to be careful of staying away from anyone else. The unconscious warrior that Haruka carried would draw attention if anyone saw her wings, which thankfully were covering the more obvious parts of her Senshi uniform. Luck was with them and the streets were nearly deserted, most people eating dinner then.  
  
Piling into the car, they secured their still unconscious princess. After sitting down, ChibiUsa looked over her mom and was uplifted. She could here the faint sounds of Usagi beginning to fall into a deep, but a perfectly normal sleep. With her mother, the sound of snoring always meant that she was okay, and so ChibiUsa sat back in her seat happier. Or at least she was in a positive mood, until Haruka's driving scared her stiff.  
  
Nervousness and agitation gnawing at Haruka, she drove her yellow sports car like a formula one racer down the streets of Tokyo. Placing a hand on her partner's thigh, Michiru tried to calm the blonde down. "You need to calm down dear, otherwise you are just going to hurt the princess if you get into an accident. Plus how would we explain to a police officer ticketing you for reckless driving why we have an unconscious Sailor Moon in the back seat?"  
  
Haruka took Michiru's words and tried to take a deep breath to calm herself. "I know, but I am just worried about…"  
  
"You who would gallantly run into battle without a care to the odds is worried about a pair of regular people?" Michiru replied.  
  
"But they aren't regular people. They are the princess's Earth parents, and her father just scares me, plus I think he has a shotgun in the hall closet somewhere." The frightened Haruka replied.  
  
Michiru could only laugh and shake her head at her partner's fear. "Just try not to hit on the princess and I think that you will be fine. Or at least have no more to fear than me."  
  
Far sooner than the Wind Warrior would have liked she pulled up in front of Usagi's house. Getting out she picked up Usagi while the other two got out of the car. Reaching the front door, ChibiUsa let the two of them in and they headed up to Usagi's room. Hearing people coming in, Ikuko came out of the kitchen to greet them. However, upon seeing them carrying up the sleeping Moon Warrior, she managed to hold off her questions till they came back down. At least nothing can be too wrong. Usagi doesn't look any the worse for wear, only a few areas where she was obviously banged up. But a whole lot better than some times when she comes back in. I am still amazed by how fast those wounds clear up, always gone by the next morning for school. But that is not quite correct is it? She must just be healing the surface wounds first, to keep people from asking questions, for I can tell that at times the now unseen wounds still pain her. However, she was also snoring just now, and doing a pretty good job of it as well. That is the one thing that I do know about my daughter. If she is snoring up a storm then she is perfectly healthy. Having reassured herself Ikuko smiled and went to prepare some tea.  
  
The timing of the tea turned out perfect, as Haruka and Michiru were just coming down the stairs as Ikuko poured out the three cups of tea. Carrying a tray with the cups, she heralded the two Senshi into the living room with her unspoken demand for answers.  
  
"Your daughter will be fine, Ami looked at her before we brought her home." Michiru said after taking a few sips of the tea. "None of us know what happened, only Minako and the princess were there at the time. Thankfully, though she appears to be only suffering from exhaustion."  
  
"However, when she gets up I wouldn't be surprised if she decided to clean out your pantry." Haruka remarked with a grin.  
  
The two Senshi remained talking with Ikuko like that till she finally had to get up to fix dinner for her family. During the time that they talked, Mamoru had come to check on Usagi before heading back to his apartment. As Ikuko excused herself to go fix the dinner, Michiru and Haruka relaxed back in the chairs finishing up their tea.  
  
"Mmm… That smells good. I wonder what she is cooking?" Haruka asked.  
  
Though Michiru did not respond to Haruka's question, her stomach told her that the two of them should be taking their leave soon so that they could get their own dinner. Ikuko had of course extended to them an offer to stay for dinner, but they had declined. However, by unspoken agreement the two had decided to stay till their princess awoke.  
  
  
  
Up stairs in her room, the Sailor Moon lay sprawled out on her bed, asleep. At her desk, her daughter sat contently doing her homework, or as content as any Usagi could be doing homework. ChibiUsa would have preferred to have been doing something else, however she also wanted to stay with her mother till she awoke. Even though she knew that Usagi was going to be okay, fear still bothered her.  
  
So instead, she was doing her homework, the only thing available currently to occupy her mind and pass the time. Thankfully, this batch of homework was sufficiently engaging enough to keep her mind off of what she had seen at the tunnel earlier. While with the reassurance of being there with her mom kept her from worrying about Usagi, Venus was a different story. She had unfortunately glimpsed Venus's form as she had raced to where her mother lay, and now that her mind was no longer focused on her mother, it could wander to Venus if given the opportunity.  
  
She knew that Luna had desperately wanted to know what had happened to her charge. But thankfully for ChibiUsa, the lunar guardian had decided not question ChibiUsa on what had happened. She figured that Michiru or Haruka had probably given Luna a look that had seen to that. Instead, Luna had after getting a quick capsulation of the situation had left to find one of the others.  
  
Finishing with her math homework, ChibiUsa closed her textbook and placed it back in her bag. There she had finished her homework. Looking up at the time she saw that it was nearly seven and the aroma of dinner wafting up further reinforced that it was dinnertime. For a moment, the child thought about waking Usagi, but then decided against it.  
  
"Mmm… that smells good." A sleepy voice said, as ChibiUsa was getting up from the desk. Looking over to the bed, ChibiUsa saw that sure enough that the smell of food had aroused her mother from her slumber. "Ooh, what happened?" Usagi continued, holding a hand to her head, "Don't feel quite all here yet. Wait how did I get here?" And then looking down at her outfit, "And why am I still wearing my Sailor Fuku?"  
  
Happy that her mother was awake again, ChibiUsa replied, "Usagi no-baka, you passed out while fighting."  
  
"I passed out?" the Moon Warrior asked incredulously.  
  
"Yep, you were out cold by the time that we got there. Though it seems your stomach is still working odango-atama."  
  
"Why you little spore." Usagi said, as she stood up to give chase to her daughter. However, a quick bout of lightheadedness killed that idea. Instead, she decided to more sedately follow her daughter downstairs and feed her stomach. Wonder why I am so hungry, feels like I haven't eaten all day. However, as she began walking down the steps she realized that she had forgotten about her Senshi Fuku. Hanging her head, a bit annoyed with herself, Usagi headed back to her room as she dropped her magic.  
  
Usagi headed back to her room, so that she could change out of school uniform. Not long ago, food would have come first before changing out of her clothes. But since that battle up in the artic, things were not that simple. Instead she now had wings, which were much more comfortable to leave out than absorbing into her body. She had realized in the past few days that it was not really a glamour spell that hid the wings; instead, they were pulled into her body. Unfortunately, that meant that there was a slight discomfort in hiding them that way. She could manage it for school or longer periods of time. But she always was happy to get home and to be able to change into one of her specially modified house outfits that allowed her to leave her wings out.  
  
  
  
After finding something to eat, Mercury had headed up to Venus's room. Once again, there were complaints from the hospital staff about no visitors and the like. While she was not one normally to get what she wanted by force, Ami quickly found that displaying a little bit of her magic to be very effective in quieting the objections.  
  
Once she did manage to secure passage to Venus's room and after doing a quick check on Minako, Ami decided to attempt to begin puzzling together what had happened in that tunnel. She had a few scans from the site and ones of Venus and Sailor Moon that she could analyze. Her first instinct was that the enemy was responsible for the blast, however that did not fit in with the evidence.  
  
The blast was centered at Sailor Moon, and she seemed unhurt by it. Of course, the Ginzuishou could always have protected its master, however that then left open the question as to why the enemy would have wasted so much energy in an obviously very unfocused attack. The other problem was that every reading she had taken was saturated with the princess's energy signature. That seemed to suggest that Sailor Moon was the source of the blast, but why and how.  
  
Even as much as Sailor Moon appeared to be the source of the blast, she was also the reason that Venus was still alive. Venus's body was swimming in the Moon's healing energy. As much as she had told the doctors about the resilience of the Senshi body, Venus should have died from her injuries. Maybe a full Senshi could have survived, but they were not yet full Senshi. Their bodies were too young, even if just a year or two away, and the connections with their planets had not been fully reestablished. The princess had begun that process nearly a month ago, but it was only just started.  
  
What troubled Mercury the most though, was not what had happened, but what would happen the next time something like this occurred. She still did not know what had trigged the massive explosion of energy, but something told her that it could easily happen again. And what would happen the next time it occurred. Her scans indicated that Venus had only minor injuries prior to the ones resulting from the blast. But what would happen if the next time this occurred one of them was already seriously injured, or if the blast triggered other explosions, knocked them off a building.  
  
Or even worse, what if this release of energy was more powerful next time. That last possibility worried Mercury the most. Sailor Moon obviously had immense power; she had easily destroyed that droid Constructica the other day. And at the same time, Sailor Moon posed a conundrum for Mercury, as the princess did not seem to fit into the mold of the others. And then there was the issue of the Ginzuishou, the crystal that had sustained life on the member planets of the Silver Millennium. She had a feeling that a hydrogen bomb's power would pale in comparison to one of these blasts at full power.  
  
Of course, the princess would never attack any of them on purpose. Heck, she would be unable to bring herself to kill them even if they had somehow turned evil. That was the way their princess was. But then what about today? They did find Serenity unconscious, so might she have lost control of a spell? If so, what could cause a spell to go so horribly wrong?  
  
The sounds of life from Venus ended Mercury's attempts to unravel the latest mystery. Looking up at the clock on the wall, she realized that another eighty minutes had passed. Looking over at the source of the noise, she saw that Venus was awake. Running a quick scan as she got up to walk over the bed, the blue haired warrior smiled.  
  
"Well look who is up." Mercury said, "You are going to be just fine."  
  
"Mercury?" Venus asked a bit confused. Looking around, the blond discovered that she was in a hospital. "What happened? I don't remember anything other than a bright light."  
  
"I was hoping you would be able to tell me. However, my guess is that somehow a spell Serenity was using backfired. The resulting blast made you part of the tunnel's wall and almost killed you. I came with you when you were brought here and made sure the doctors correctly patched you up. But now that you are awake we can leave."  
  
"Sounds good to me." Venus replied with a strained smile.  
  
"She is not going anywhere, she needs her rest. Even your supposed Senshi healing abilities need time and she is much too fragile to move now." A familiar voice called from the door.  
  
Turning, Mercury gasped in horror. MOM! echoed through her mind as it went blank. A warrior who had faced death twice before was now utterly useless confronting her mother. Okay calm down Ami, you can handle this. She may be your mother, but in this form she isn't. Just act all professional like before. Argh… I don't like this, why did it have to be her on duty tonight? "Well, ahh…" Mercury stuttered, loosing the little confidence she had managed to pull together. Thankfully, a hand reached out and grasped onto her arm, proving the needed support to steady her nerves. Mercury shot Venus a quick look of thanks before turning back to her mother. "Yes that is correct. But she needs to be able drop all her magic spells to maximize her healing rate and she can't do that here in the hospital without risking revealing her identity. I promise she will get the rest she needs."  
  
Doctor Mizuno appeared to be contemplating that explanation. Mercury knew she could always just leave, and her mom would be unable to stop her. But, she could not do that to her mother, another doctor yes, but not her mother. Being the good doctor's daughter, Ami could read her mother's expressions and her hopes sank as she realized that her mother was not going to go for the offer. What do I do know? I can't leave Venus here, Usagi will be in here by morning and then we are just asking for trouble. But I can't walk out on my mom either; I would just feel too guilty when I got home. Plus she would probably weasel it out of me. Ugh! What to do? "How's this, I will be by when you get off work and will take you to see her. And if you feel that she belongs back in the hospital, we will bring her right back. I give you my word on the royal house of Mercury."  
  
This seemed to sufficiently assure Mizuno-san, as the blue haired doctor proceeded to nod her assent. She knew that this was the best option that she was going to be able to get out of this deal. At least she was going to be able to check in on the patient in a few hours and make sure that being moved hadn't hurt her.  
  
Mercury moving quick so that her mom would not have a chance to change her mind called forth her fog obscuring everything in the room. Moving over to the bed she whispered down at the blonde, "Mina-chan you can drop your Senshi magic now. You need all your energy for healing your body. It is only because of that that I am risking moving you." As the magic fell, Mercury picked the wounded teen up in her arms and headed for the window. Using her foot, Mercury kicked it open and jumped out into the night. Only later as they were traveling along the roofs towards Mako's apartment did the magnitude of what she had said to her mom finally dawn on her. Oh my god, I just told mom that I would take her to see Minako. She is going to know who we are then, Rei is going to be furious and what am I going to tell Usagi.  
  
  
  
After watching Mercury depart in the ambulance with Venus, Rei and Makoto had returned to Makoto's apartment to wait. While they normally would have headed to the shrine to wait, in their current state they were not feeling very social. The grief they wore on the faces for their fallen comrade was just too visible. They could have headed to the Tsukino's, but they did not want to burden that family anymore than they already had.  
  
So instead they had come back her to Makoto's apartment. Not sure what to do, Makoto had channeled surfed a bit before giving up and heading into the kitchen. There she remained working out her frustrations in the only constructive manner that she knew how, cooking. Rei for her part had found a comfortable spot on the floor and lost herself in deep meditation. While she did not have the guidance or insight of the fire to guide her, that was not the real purpose of her meditations. No, she needed to clean her mind, to keep it objective.  
  
When night began falling, Makoto brought out some dishes to the table and the two sat down to eat. The meal passed in quiet, as neither really knew what to say. One would think that by now with the battles that they had been in, that they would have become desensitized to these scenes. However, those battles seemed to have had just the opposite case. Maybe it was that each one of these reinforced the knowledge that they could / had died in their line of duty.  
  
Later after dinner as Makoto and Rei were cleaning up from dinner a knock came at the door. Getting the door, while Rei continued washing the dishes, Mako opened it to find Usagi.  
  
"Konnichiwa, Usagi. I didn't think we would see you tonight." The brunette said  
  
"Nope, I am all right, well except for having a ravenous appetite when I woke up." Usagi replied, and Makoto wondered how much food Usagi had to have eaten for that girl to describe her appetite as ravenous. She had a feeling that she never wanted to have her budget find that out. "I am guessing that what happened to me was no different from the weakness that I had back when I was first using the Crescent Moon Wand."  
  
Makoto nodded her acceptance of her friend looking okay and closed the door behind the silver haired girl. Taking off her shoes, Usagi continued, "Before I left, Ami called. She said that Minako is going to be okay and that if Minako wakes up, she may see about bringing her here. She feels that Minako would heal a lot faster with us then in a hospital, something about not wasting energy on spells or something."  
  
"That's good. Rei and I just finished our dinner, however, I ended up baking a cake this afternoon…" Makoto trailed off on the rest of her statement, not needing to ask the question. Usagi's features had already perked up at the mention of sweats and the girl was making her way to the kitchen. Shaking her head, Makoto followed her princess.  
  
An hour later found the three friends sitting in Mako's living room chatting amongst themselves. The arrival of Usagi had substantially lightened the mood in the apartment. Part of that was the news she brought of Minako, and the other was just her presence. She was one of the injured and now seeing her up and about helped to reassure the two that yes while they had an extremely dangerous job, their Senshi physiology helped to offset those dangers.  
  
The sounding of their communicator alarms signaled the arrival of Mercury. Makoto took the call, figuring that she would have to help Ami with Minako. After finding out that the blue haired warrior had decided to arrive on the roof, she headed out the apartment and up the stairs. Five minutes later the apartment door reopened and Makoto entered carrying Minako while Ami followed close behind her.  
  
Seeing the injured Minako, Usagi burst up from her position in the couch, or she would have, had Rei not been expecting that exact response. Instead, Usagi made it no farther than a few centimeters off the couch before being pushed back down.  
  
"What did you do that for?" an annoyed Usagi asked Rei.  
  
"Mina-chan does not need any further injuries from when you crush her into pulp." Rei said, which garnered her a hurt look from Usagi. However, Rei quickly indicated to her best friend that she had not meant anything mean by that, which seemed to assure the other girl.  
  
"Hai, no bone crushing hugs for Minako for at least a day or so. However, she is not in danger of falling apart. Actually all she needs is just rest and to eat some real food." Ami said."  
  
Makoto chuckled at Rei and Usagi as she disappeared into her kitchen. She reappeared a few moments later with a big bowl of chicken soup. "Here you go, this will help you get some of your energy back." Then pausing for a moment, Makoto continued "And there is also one there in the kitchen for you too Usagi."  
  
Wasting not a moment the princess dashed into the kitchen to collect her bowl of soup. Rei was left stunned by the quick motion, in the passing of a moment her hand went from resting on Usagi's shoulder to having nothing but empty air beneath it. All she could was to shake her head.  
  
"Do you have any idea of what happened?" Makoto asked after Usagi had sat back down with her bowl of soup.  
  
"Hai, my scans of the tunnel and Minako have given me some theories. However, I need to check something out first. Usagi how are you feeling?"  
  
"Fine, I haven't felt off at all since I awoke earlier."  
  
"In that case I need you to come with me for a moment." And then turning to the others in the room, Ami continued, "And the rest of you stay here. If you don't here from me in ten minutes then you can come find us."  
  
The others were a bit too startled by Ami's instructions to do anything as the two left the apartment.  
  
"Do you think it is a good idea letting those two go by themselves, what if what ever happened happens again?" Rei asked.  
  
"That may be precisely why Ami wanted to be the only other one to go." Minako stated softly from where she lay on the couch. I hope Ami-chan knows what she is doing.  
  
  
  
Up on the roof, Sailor Mercury stood beside Sailor Moon, her visor deployed and computer out. "Usagi I want you to use your attack while I analyze it. Why don't you focus it on the middle of that ledge over there? Though you don't need to use your attack at full power."  
  
"You think that I am the one who injured Minako?" Usagi asked with a tone that indicated that she believed that herself.  
  
Looking at her princess, Mercury paused for a few moments deciding how she wanted to respond. "Hai, I do. Your energy signature utterly saturated the area including Minako. In addition, we found you laying at the blast's epicenter and add to that that you were very drained. But I don't know how, and that is what I am trying to find out now."  
  
Usagi nodded her understanding. I don't want to do this again. But I must, I owe it to Minako to find out how I hurt her so. Bringing out her Eternal Tier, she began powering up her attack.  
  
As Sailor Moon began the power-building phase of her attack, Mercury watched numbers scroll by on her Visor. Unlike the rest of them, Sailor Moon's attacks (other than her tiara) always required her to "power-up" first. This was of course one reason why she could not use her attacks right off the back, the Moon Senshi needed them to weaken the demon first so that she would have the time to cast her spell.  
  
At first, everything seemed normal; though Ami was surprised to see how strong Sailor Moon's attack was in at least raw energy terms. But before too long some of the numbers turned red and began flashing. As more and more columns of numbers became red and warnings began to appear on the visor, Mercury knew something was going wrong. Her fingers danced across the keyboard as she tried to find out exactly what that something was.  
  
While her scientific mind pondered the mystery that was in front of her, her more basic self began to get worried. Sailor Moon's attack had started out weak, but the numbers had suddenly jumped up an order of magnitude, the attack was now at full power. The two thought tracks met and Mercury was suddenly very scared. Muttering "Oh, hell…" the blue haired warrior dropped her computer, turned, and ran. Fearing for her life, she ran to the edge of the life and without hesitation she flung herself over it and dropped.  
  
Sailor Moon for her part was straining to control the energy of her attack. She could feel the energy begin to widely fluctuate as it was conducted through her body to the tier. Her hold on reality had been one of the first things to go; instead, all that existed for her now was the energy. She desperately tried to regain control, but it was like riding a wild bronco. And then with a violent snap she finally lost total control. From her body a gigantic energy wave was unleashed. The resulting shockwave blasted into everything on the roof, and then all was quiet.  
  
Having hurtled herself off the top of a nice tall building and falling back to the ground, Ami watched a beautiful but very deadly wave of energy radiated outwards from the roof. Thankfully, for her she did not remain mesmerized by the energy wave too long, or she would have broken her back upon hitting the pavement below. She unfortunately did not have time to rotate her body into a better landing position. Cursing to herself for not thinking about setting up an escape route before hand an idea came to her mind. That might just work, it would at least give me some cushioning.  
  
  
  
Glancing up at the clock said, "Six minutes, they have another four."  
  
Minako looked up from where she now lay on the couch resting at the auburn girl. "Mako-chan don't worry Ami knows what she is doing."  
  
"Ami is not one to do anything rash." Luna agreed. Luna and Artemis sat by the door, guarding it to keep the apartment's occupants inside. By unsheathing their claws and then later just by staring down the girls, they had been able to keep Makoto and Rei inside. However, they also knew that come the full ten minutes there would be nothing that they could do to keep the girls inside.  
  
Minako exchanged knowing glances with the two cats and returned to eating her soup. The soup was almost gone and if she finished off this last little bit she would be able to distract Makoto for a few moments by having the brunette get her another bowl. However, the sight of a large snowman falling by the window caused her to forget about her soup. "Did anyone… just… see?" she asked in a hesitant voice not sure that she wasn't loosing her mind.  
  
The others had also seen the snowman, or at least enough of a glimpse to be confused as well. In of itself the falling snowman might not have been enough to set them into motion, but the bright flash and thunderous clash that accompanied it did. Instantly Rei, Makoto, Luna and Artemis were out of the apartment and heading up the stairs.  
  
As they left the apartment Artemis asked, "Should we call Mamoru-san?"  
  
Taking the role of leader, Makoto thought about Artemis's suggestion a moment before replying, "No, let us see what the situation is first." With a suspicion that the falling snowman had something to do with Ami, Makoto decided that it would be best to investigate both areas. "Rei-chan, you and Luna go see to Usagi. Artemis and I will see to whatever it was that fell off the roof."  
  
"Hai." the other three agreed. As Rei and Luna raced up the stairs, Makoto grabbed Artemis by his neck and begun dropping down the staircase, traversing a flight every drop. Reaching the ground floor the two burst out into the street.  
  
Running around the building to the side that Makoto's apartment was on, they found a partially smashed snowman. Slowing to a walk, they approached it. But stopped when first one arm and then another poked out from its body, followed soon after by two very short legs. Recognizing the limbs, the Makoto walked over and helped the snowman to its legs.  
  
A muffled "Agrito" came as a response.  
  
Now on its feet, the snow-Mercury reached up with its hands to remove its head. Pulling off the ball of snow, Mercury coughed a bit, able to once again breath. Tossing the head to the ground she tried to figure how to get out of the rest of her outfit. Hearing giggles, she looked up to see her Makoto trying to but not succeeding in hiding her amusement.  
  
"Ahem, could you help me get out of this?" Ami asked.  
  
"Can't you just make it vanish, like you do with your fog?" Makoto asked.  
  
"No, the fog I only summon temporarily, which means that once I stop concentrating on the spell it is gone. But this is real, permanent snow, which I summoned."  
  
"And, why pray tell did you decided to make yourself into a snow-Mercury?" Makoto asked.  
  
"To protect me from the fall. In my haste to avoid the blast, I flung myself off the building without thinking about safely landing. In the few moments that I had, this was all that I could think of to cushion my fall. And I needed real snow, so that if the blast still got me and knocked me out I would still be cushioned when I hit. I just did not realize that it would be quit so hard to get out of."  
  
"Still wish that I had thought to grab my camera on the way down." Makoto said as she began trying to free the well-packed Mercury. Then to herself she made a mental note to pick up a disposable one to stuff in her sub- space pocket for the future.  
  
Thank god, that she does not have a camera with her and thankfully, I landed here in behind the building instead of out in the street. Just what I would have needed, a front page photo of Sailor Mercury as a snowman.  
  
  
  
Reaching the top of the stairs, Luna and Rei found the roof door to be no longer on its hinges. Instead, it was embedded in the wall on the opposite side of the stairs. Ouch. The manager is not going to like the results of this little test. Rei thought. Looking at the door a bit closer, she noticed Mercury's computer embedded in it, giving it a tug she removed the computer and placed it away.  
  
Exiting out onto the roof, the two found a nice layer of soot covering everything. Except for that fine layer of soot, the area was clear of any debris, much like the tunnel from earlier in the day. Reaching Sailor Moon, they found her again back in her street clothes lying on the ground. Reaching down, Rei grunted a bit as she lifted the girl up. However, Usagi was a lot lighter than she had expected to the other girl to be. Yeesh, she weighs practically nothing. Strange since when she klutzes out and falls on me she weighs a ton. But now with her asleep she seems so delicate and fragile.  
  
With nothing else drawing their interest, Luna and Rei headed back into the building. As the headed down the stairs, the gentle swaying of being carried began to awake Usagi and she mumbled groggily, "Uh, what happened?" However, that thought failed to keep her awake she drifted back off to sleep, though mumbling, "Mmm, blueberry pancakes would be nice." first.  
  
Rei sighed in response. Then talking more to herself than Luna she said, "Guess that means she is okay now that she is back to her Odango-atama self." There, however, was no trace of annoyance in her comments, instead she was happy with the course of events.  
  
Reaching the apartment, they found that they were the first ones to return. As Luna checked on Minako who had dozed off, Rei went to lay Usagi down on Makoto's bed. Closing the door behind her as she left, she headed back to join the others. Seeing that Minako was now awake, Rei let the blonde know that Usagi was okay. Then remembering the Mercury Computer, she took that out and placed it down on the coffee table while saying, "Hopefully this is still okay." At Minako's questioning glance she continued, "It tried to become one with the roof door."  
  
"That bad huh?" Minako asked.  
  
"Hai, be glad that you never actually had to see these blast zones. I do not even want to think what would happen should a civilian be caught in one." Rei said. The other two shuddered at that thought.  
  
Thankfully, they did not have to dwell on that thought too long, as shortly there after the door opened to reveal the others. With a blue blur, one of the new arrivals made a beeline for the bathroom. After watching her blue haired friend disappear in a flash, Makoto headed off to the kitchen with a smile on her face. Putting a kettle on the stove, she began making some hot chocolate.  
  
Artemis for his part walked over to where the others sat and found a comfortable position to sit, with a very wide smile on his face. Taking a quick look at Luna he realized it would not be good for his health to continue looking like that cat that had swallowed the canary and so spoke. "To cushion her fall from the roof, Ami turned herself into a snowman. Unfortunately for her, she failed to ensure that she had all the snow and loose water off her Senshi Uniform before changing back. As a result she immediately became cold and wet."  
  
"Ah" said the others.  
  
Rei, who never had any like for the cold and wet weather sympathized with Ami's condition. She could have offered to warm Ami up with some nice warm fire, but she had a feeling that the Fresh Water Senshi might not like that. However, Makoto's towels were sufficient for Ami to dry herself off with, and after wrapping herself up in one of Makoto's green towels, she was sufficiently content. She only hoped that her clothes would be sufficiently dried off by the time she had to head home.  
  
Now much drier and warmer, Ami entered the living room. However, she still failed to recognize the presence of anyone else. Instead, she walked over to the coffee table to pick up her computer and immediately found a comfy chair to curly up in. A few minutes later Makoto arrived with the hot chocolate and Ami readily accepted it. Part of her withdrawnness was caused by the embarrassment of nearly giving herself hypothermia; the other reason was the problem that was in front of her. However, Ami did let Luna up into her lap and petted the feline while she looked on.  
  
And so, that was how the next hour and a half passed for the girls. Ami plugged away at her computer with Luna looking on; Usagi, Minako, and Artemis as well slept; and Makoto and Rei having already run out of things to talk about pulled out a backgammon board and began playing. Usagi was the first to stir from her position. Being led by a ravenous appetite, the not quite functional teen made her way unnoticed into the kitchen. There after forging for a few minutes she found her prize, a bucket of chocolate ice cream and made her way back to the others.  
  
Hearing some noise, Rei looked up from the board and saw Usagi enter carrying a very large container of ice cream. She was tempted to tease the silver haired girl about becoming one giant dumpling, but decided against it. Instead, she smirked as she handed Mako the doubling cube. Usagi had had a rough day and probably needed the quick energy fix that all that sugar would give her.  
  
"Dang it," Makoto cursed a few minutes later as Rei bore off her last man. "I should not have accepted the doubling cube."  
  
"True, but it was a good match." The priestess replied.  
  
"Hai it was. And I thought I had you there in that last game too." Makoto conceded. Then turning to look at Usagi she asked, "How are you feeling Usagi?"  
  
"Tired, but okay."  
  
"Hungry too I see." Rei decided to add  
  
"That that was new this afternoon." Makoto whined as she realized that Usagi had already finished off half of the tub.  
  
"Gomen, Mako-chan, but I was hungry."  
  
"It's okay. What's more important is that you have your energy, and are the energetic fun loving friend that we all know you to be." Makoto replied.  
  
"Hai!" Rei add enthusiastically with a quick hug that caught the other two by surprise.  
  
"Good I see that Usagi-chan is up." Ami said. "Minna-chan, I think I now know what happened today. But first we did to wake those two up." she said while pointing towards the dozing Artemis and Minako.  
  
"Do you think it is a good idea to wake Minako, after all she needs her rest?" Luna asked as she went to give Artemis a rude awakening.  
  
"Hai, I do. This is important enough, and as the second in charge after Usagi she needs to know."  
  
"Did some one say my name?" Minako asked as she opened her eyes.  
  
"Hai, we did." Ami replied, "I have finished my analysis."  
  
"OWE!!!!!" Artemis cried as he was awoken by Luna. Unfortunately in leaping up, he had propelled himself slightly away from the couch and consequently only landed half on it, and it did not take long for him to topple over and fall to the ground. After cursing some under his breath, the battered white cat climbed back up. "What did you do that for?" he asked Luna.  
  
"Shush," was all Luna said as the others settled themselves down to listen to Ami.  
  
"After tonight's little episode, you probably have all begun to realize that Usagi is connected with these blasts. My scans from tonight confirmed what I had suspected after we found Usagi and Minako in the tunnel. Usagi's attack has become nothing more than a massive explosion. Gomen Usagi." Ami said  
  
"It's okay, Ami-chan. I known you don't mean any disrespect by it. And I want these blasts stopped as much as everyone else." Usagi replied.  
  
Ami sent Usagi a look that showed her thanks for what the Moon Princess had said. "As to why Usagi is causing these blasts, my scans tonight solved that problem. Whenever Usagi uses her Moon Scepter, the Ginzuishou, or now the Eternal Tier she first has to build up a large store of energy in her body. For us this is similar to using the planet attack or teleporting. Those two spells require more energy than we hold even when fully rested. Instead, we have to build up additional energy in the area around us.  
  
"However, as you know from your own experiences it takes a certain amount of concentration to keep control of those wild energies. In simple terms this is what happened with Usagi, she lost control and the energy got loose."  
  
"You mean I just ditzed out?" a suddenly very ashamed Usagi softly said. I really am a ditz, I can't even control a simple spell and not hurt my friends. Usagi thought to herself as she felt tears coming on.  
  
Rei hearing Usagi's question and seeing the girl's expression falter immediately reached over and pulled the other girl over to her chest. Wrapping a comforting arm around Usagi, she softly stroked Usagi as she softly told her that things would be okay. Looking up at Ami, she sent the other a girl an expression that said she was not very happy with her.  
  
Usagi's reaction pained Ami, she had not meant for the other girl to take it like that. Of course, she had never stopped to think how Usagi might take the news before she finished explaining it all. "Gomen nasai Usagi- chan, I did not mean it like that. You see the reality of the situation is much more complicated than that."  
  
"Oh?" A teary Usagi said as she looked up from Rei's chest.  
  
"Hai, you see your final banishment spell is far more complicated than any simple spell that we cast. Not only does your spell require immense amounts of energy, but also the energy must be added at very specific rates. Unlike the Planet Attack or teleport spells, you don't build up a visible aura of energy; instead, you are creating the spell's energy matrix right from the start.  
  
"Unfortunately, if you don't add the energy at the correct rates, the spell matrix will begin to degenerate. To compound the problem, the destabilizing spell consumes energy to keep it from going awry. Eventually this feedback becomes too much for you and you are no longer able to keep the spell from collapsing, and it explodes outward in a massive release of uncontrolled energy."  
  
Ami paused for a moment to see how Usagi was taking this elaborated explanation. She could tell that the other girl was not fully grasping the details, but she did seemed to be sufficiently reassured. Most likely, she was remembering what it felt like each time she used that spell and how it was not for lack of concentration that things fell apart.  
  
Deciding that it was safe to continue with the less pleasant portions of her analysis, Ami continued. "Thankfully, most of the energy of the attack is in the form of healing energy, otherwise this building would have been no more tonight. This is also the only reason why Minako survived the blast today. Almost as much as the blast hurt her, it healed and sustained her. If a similar blast had occurred when we were using our powers, I cannot imagine the damage we would have done to the city."  
  
The others just sat stunned by what Ami had said. Usagi for her part looked down at her hands, surprised that she had that much power. But then she thought about the energies that she and Beryl had expended at the North Pole and realized maybe it wasn't so far fetched after all.  
  
"Demo, Ami-chan, what about when she took out that droid?" Makoto asked confused as to why this attack had worked perfectly for the princess the other day.  
  
"I am not positive, but my guess is that it must be connected to her battle with Metalia." Ami replied, only to be met with complete confusion from everyone else, none of them seeing the connection. "Being dead at the time, I have idea what happened during that final battle, however I do know that Usagi unleashed massive amounts of energy. While it is getting weaker, there is a steady background of residual Moon energy from that battle all over the Earth. Therefore, until today even though she should not have been able to use this attack she could. Usagi can't yet normally draw energy fast enough to cast the spell, however prior to today the background energy was sufficiently rich to allow her draw in enough energy."  
  
A round of "Ahs" came from the others as they finally saw the connection that Ami was making.  
  
"While I understand how the explosion occurred, why wasn't Usagi-chan able to just stop the spell?" Luna asked, "She has stopped in the middle of her other attacks before."  
  
"The problem is that once the spell begins to degenerate, all her attention gets focused on sustaining the spell. There is no way for her to mentally breakout. The energy matrix is tied to her very being and it calls to her."  
  
After thinking back to the time they had used the Planet Attack and how it felt when her Martian Power built in her body, Rei said, "Ami is right. There is no way for any of us to breakout when we begin to channel energy, and that is what Usagi is doing." Then pausing for a moment to figure out how to phrase what she wanted to say, the priestess continued, "When we channel, the energy comes through our soul. We and it are one, our whole being becomes focused on forming the energy into the spell."  
  
Usagi nodded her agreement, as Rei finished by mentioning that she was however not quite sure how they came out of their trance like state, shutting down the channeling effect when the spell was finished.  
  
"Hmm… that's interesting." Ami remarked as she made note of what Rei had said in her palmtop. The others just shook their heads in amusement knowing that Ami was now going to begin devising a program to look for souls. While they all believed that souls existed, their rebirth here on Earth being sufficient evidence, they thought them to be some kind of metaphysical object. How wrong they going to be proved later when Galaxia painfully rips their very souls from their bodies.  
  
Having taken in all that Ami said, Usagi spoke "I guess this means that I can no longer use my Eternal Tier. Thankfully I still have my Scepter." Flicking her wrist, she pulled out the after mentioned item, double- checking to make sure that she did indeed still have it.  
  
"Guess it is back to us beating them senseless so that Usagi can finish them off." Makoto said.  
  
"Hai." Ami replied. Then pausing and taking a deep breath, she continued speaking, "There is one other issue. It is actually, what has been keeping me occupied for most of these past two hours, something else that my scans turned up. It is about Usagi's Senshi nature.  
  
"We all know that during the Silver Millennium there was no Senshi of the Moon. However, with Luna forgetting that detail suddenly there is one now. Now it is possible that maybe the royal moon line were Senshi's just never trained. However, all the moon queens lived very short lives, on the order of a century or two. On the other hand, the Silver Millennium Senshi only died if they got very sick or severely injured in battle.  
  
"So where did the sudden appearance of a Sailor Moon come from? Well she didn't, hate to do this again in one night Usagi, but there is no such thing as Sailor Moon. She is not a Sailor Senshi."  
  
"But what about the fuku and the powers?" Minako asked.  
  
"Well the fuku is nothing more than a disguise spell coupled with a powerful shield spell and some other spells. You don't need to be a Senshi to cast one of those. As to her powers, she has none. At least not in the way that we have powers. Ours our innate drawing on our Senshi nature, but hers are powered the Ginzuishou."  
  
"But what about all the battles before we found the Ginzuishou?" asked Rei, seeing even this as an attack against her friend that she had to defend.  
  
"I was never without some of the Ginzuishou's powers." Usagi replied. "Like the Shadow Warriors I was born with one of the crystal fragments, it is what provided me with my powers and kept me hidden. Unlike the rest of you I was not born human, otherwise I would never have been able to use the power of the Ginzuishou. However, Ami is also partially wrong."  
  
"Huh?" the resident genius responded, with Luna looking up in surprise as well.  
  
"The line of Serenity may not be a line of Senshi, however we are not without our own powers. The Ginzuishou is really only a tool for focusing and to a degree magnifying energy and so would be useless to me if I were not a mage. The ultimate source of my magic is the local manna pools."  
  
"So what does this all mean?" Makoto asked, not quite following the why for where the discussion had turned.  
  
Makoto's question pulled Ami back from her world of theoretical understanding. There was a point she needed to make with bringing this up, but yet her mind wanted to explore the nature of Sailor Senshi more and the unanswered mysteries from her scans. Blushing a bit, Ami looked at Makoto to answer the girl's question. However, the clock on the wall caught her gaze. Oh, crap forgot about that.  
  
Looking at Usagi she instead asked, "Princess can a speak with you for a moment?"  
  
From Ami's tone and her use of princess, Usagi knew that something was bothering her friend. "Sure Ami-chan." Usagi said as she stood up.  
  
The two girls walked into the kitchen. Once they got there, Ami fiddled nervously. "Ami-chan, what is it? There is nothing that you can tell me that is going to make me angry at you." Usagi said trying to help the blue haired girl out.  
  
Ami looked up at her princess, she realized that she should not be surprised that Usagi had already guessed that she was feeling ashamed about something. "Arigatoo Usagi. It's about Minako, or what I had to do to get her out of the hospital."  
  
"You didn't hurt anyone." Usagi asked when Ami paused.  
  
"No, no, I didn't do anything like that." Ami replied, her mind distracted a bit, which was Usagi's real goal with the question, as she knew that Ami would never do anything like that. "No, it's my mother, she came in to check on Minako as I was preparing to leave."  
  
"Ah" Usagi replied beginning to understand Ami's problem.  
  
"I just froze up, I couldn't treat her like all the other doctors. I… I…" but Ami could not finish, as her voice trailed off and tears came to her eyes.  
  
Before she even finished trying to speak, Usagi was already there beside her and was pulling the sobbing girl into her embrace. Maneuvering Ami so she herself could lean back against the wall for support, she closed her wings against the other girl and just held Ami for a few minutes. Then with one of her hands she motherly stroke the other girl's hair and spoke, "Everything will be okay Ami-chan, don't worry about it. I don't expect you to shut out your personal life, she was your mother."  
  
Ami looked up at Usagi with blood shot eyes, however she did not yet have her sobs fully under control. "That's not it. I… I… told my mom that I would come back at the end of her shift to take her to see Venus. I just couldn't…" and the blue haired girl trailed off again, ashamed of her actions.  
  
Usagi, sighed and looked at the distraught girl that she was trying to console. I have never seen Ami like this before. She thinks that she has utterly failed me, how can I make her see that this is not the end of the world. Hmm… that might just work. With a plan of action Usagi begun slowly building some of her energy so that Ami would not notice. And then with a slightly evil smile on her face she grasped Ami's head lightly and released the energy into the other girl.  
  
Ami's head snapped upright and her eyes opened as she felt the energy blast into her body. Before she could even begin to think that her princess was now punishing her, it was over and she could no longer feel like that. Nor could she feel any other down emotion, her body was fully charged with a warmth that prevented her from feeling anything else other than happiness.  
  
"Now that is much better." Usagi began. "You know you were making it quite difficult for me there." Usagi chuckled as she released her hold on the other warrior. Now that you can no longer wallow in self pity you will have to listen to me." Usagi said smiling.  
  
"What did you do to me?" Ami asked very confused and slightly annoyed that she could no longer feel blue.  
  
"Think of it as giving you a giant hug." Usagi replied. "Don't worry about having made that promise to your mom, I fully understand. And I have a feeling that after tonight you will feel a lot happier that you did tell her. From personal experience I recognized your panic when you saw the clock, so I am guessing that your mother is going off shift now."  
  
Ami nodded in response.  
  
"Ok, then you head down to the hospital and meet her, I will call Haruka and have her pick the two of you up and bring you back here. Now no complaints, get going." Usagi said as she began moving Ami to the door.  
  
"But then my mom will know our identities." Ami said.  
  
"What did I just say?" Usagi replied, and then continuing, "And like I said, you will feel a lot happier about everything after tonight. By the way try not to shock your mother too much on the ride back here." And with that, Usagi pushed the other girl out into the hall and closed the apartment door.  
  
Whipping her brow after managing to deal with Ami, Usagi headed back in to the kitchen. I just hope parenting my own child is not as hard as that, though I did enjoy it. Picking up the phone, she gave Haruka a call. Five minutes later Usagi hung the phone back up, knowing that she just made the streets of Tokyo more dangerous. Thankfully, the Wind Warrior had not yet headed off to bed, and the promise of seeing Minako and learning about what happened had easily gotten that speed demon out on the road. Though, she figured with that girl's love of driving, it probably would not have required much to get her to make the pickup. She just hoped that Haruka would keep the speed in the decent range after she got Ami's mother. Well now came the hard part, telling the others and keeping Rei from tearing into Ami when she returned.  
  
As Usagi walked back into the living room, Makoto asked "Where is Ami?"  
  
"Ami went to fetch her mother from the hospital so that she can check on Minako."  
  
"Odango-atama in case you have forgotten." Rei began, however Usagi cut her off.  
  
"I did not forget Rei, however it can not be helped. Mizuno-san was the attending doctor for Minako, and you can't just expect Ami to walk out on her mother." Makoto nodded as she listened to Usagi, beside her Minako also showed her agreement having been there when Ami essentially froze. However, Rei and Luna were not being swayed by Usagi's speech. Realizing that she was not going to convince them tonight, Usagi continued with "If you have a problem with the situation you can yell at me all you like, after tonight. But you will not, and I repeat you will not scold Ami on this." The last bit Usagi said while looking very hard at those two, making sure that they knew not to cross her.  
  
Neither Luna nor Rei were happy with the situation and both were thinking of all the ways they were going to tell her tomorrow how bone headed she was. However, neither were going to challenge her either, they recognized that she was their princess and in cases like this her decisions were final. All they could do was try to let their unhappiness with the situation pass before Ami got back, for they knew if they acted cool to that blue haired girl one bit they would be in big trouble. Rei had already been reprimanded once by Usagi was not looking forward to a second one.  
  
  
  
Partially illuminated by the light from the entrance to the hospital, Mizuno-san waited. It was now 12:15 in the morning and she was beginning to get impatient waiting for appointment. For once, she was able to finish up at a not too unreasonable hour and wanted to get home before it got too late, she disliked not being able to be there for her daughter. Unfortunately, she had one more patient to check on before she could head home, and this Sailor Mercury was late.  
  
She did have some doubts as to whether this Sailor Mercury would show at all. But at the same time, something told her that she could trust that blue haired warrior. As she thought about that implicit trust she had, she realized that the warrior did have a passing resemblance to her daughter, maybe that was why she felt she could trust that warrior. She had trusted the girl from when she first confronted her up in the hospital room a few hours earlier, that of course being the reason why she had let her take the injured Sailor Venus in the first place.  
  
The squeal of tires heralded the arrival of a yellow sports car to the hospital. She could not make out the driver, but was not happy with his reckless driving. Looking back towards the hospital, she did not see any coming out to the car, nor did anyone leave the car. Perplexed, Mizuno-san wondered why that driver was in such a rush.  
  
Hearing the sound of boots hitting the ground behind her, Mizuno-san turned to see that the blue haired Senshi had arrived. "Sorry about the delay, I lost track of time working on a problem." The out of breath warrior said.  
  
"It's okay, by the way where did you come from? I thought I was able to see all approaches to here."  
  
Mercury smiled a bit as she answered her mother's question while pointing up, "I took the roof top express. As our ride is here, how about we head off." She said while opening the door to the car.  
  
Mizuno-san could only shake her head in amazement as she entered through the offered door. Well that explains why the driver was in such a rush to get here. Looking up to the front, she saw that there was both a driver and a passenger. However, the lighting still prevented her from making out either of their two identities, though it did look like a man and a woman. One thing that was clear was they were at least not currently in Senshi outfits. As soon as Mercury had settled in next to her and closed the car door, the driver put the vehicle in gear  
  
Feeling herself being pressed back into the seat by the acceleration, Mizuno-san tried to keep her mind off the driver's recklessness by asking the blue haired warrior about Venus, "So how is Sailor Venus doing?"  
  
Her companion replied "She is doing quite well. We got some soup into her and she is getting a fair bit of rest." Or at least till I left, Usagi and Rei may be keeping her awake by arguing Mercury thought, but broke off her thoughts before they dwelled too much on why Usagi and Rei would be fighting.  
  
Mizuno-san saw the sour look cross the Senshi's face and mistook it to be apprehension about what was about to come. She knew that the Senshi wanted to keep their identities a secret, that being why Mercury had taken Venus away in the first place. Hoping to ease the young girl's apprehension she spoke, "I want you to know that you do not have to worry about me learning your friend's identity tonight. I am a doctor and will respect you friend's wish for privacy, I will not even mention this visit to my daughter."  
  
"Oh really?" Mercury replied with an evil smile crossing her face.  
  
Her mother missed that smile and was flabbergasted at how this Senshi had pushed off her assurance. As she quickly ran thoughts through her head trying to figure out how to assure this Senshi, for the first time she began to feel a bit uneasy with the situation. While she intellectually knew she could trust the Sailor Senshi, she still began to feel a bit worried about how they would ensure her silence.  
  
Realizing that she was worrying her mother, Mercury decided to explain herself. "You see I think you are going to have a very hard time keeping anything you see tonight from me," Mercury said as her fuku simmered as she changed back to her civilian clothes "Mom."  
  
Watching the interchange through the rearview mirror, Haruka grinned madly as Mizuno-san first stared at her daughter in shock and then passed out. "I wonder what will happen when she sees the princess's wings?"  
  
"Shush, you." Michiru replied "Just pay attention to the road and get us there in one piece."  
  
Ami for her part pulled out a package of smelling salts. I hope my mom takes this ok, I have been so worried about what this means for the others, that I haven't stopped to think what this revelation will mean to my mom. Though the real test will come when get arrive at Mako's and she is able to ask questions. I just hope that she still sees me as her daughter at the end of the day.  
  
Shaking her head a bit to clear it out from fainting, Mizuno-san opened her eyes and saw that her daughter was hovering over her with a concerned look. I must not be getting enough sleep. Though what am I doing in a car with Ami? "Sorry about that, must have dozed off for a moment. Though for some reason I keep thinking that you are one of the Sailor Senshi."  
  
Seeing her daughter's Cheshire cat grin, Mizuno-san had a sinking feeling. "That's because you passed out right after I changed back from being Sailor Mercury." Ami said.  
  
"I can't believe it, I passed out. I never pass out." The older woman replied. However, she trailed off at the end, as the magnitude of what she had seen and Ami had said finally registered in her mind. "So my studious daughter who spent all her time studying is one of the Sailor Senshi?"  
  
"Hai." Ami replied.  
  
"How, when?" was all that Ami's mother could ask.  
  
"Well depending on how you look at it, since nearly two thousand years ago or a few months back when my past caught up with me. As to how, well that is just who I have been since I was born." The last bit Ami said as she pulled her hair back to reveal a softly glowing symbol for Mercury on her forehead. Then releasing her hair and letting the symbol fade away from view, Ami continued, "The rest of your questions are going to have to wait, we are here."  
  
  
  
Up in the apartment all talk ceased with the opening of the door. Standing up, Usagi walked up to great the new arrivals. "Arigatoo Haruka-san for doing this."  
  
"It was no problem princess." Haruka replied. So far she and Michiru were the only holdouts in Usagi's attempt to get them all to just address her as Usagi-chan.  
  
Turning her attention to the baffled looking woman that they had brought with them, Usagi spoke, "Welcome Mizuno-san it is good to see you again though I wish it was under better circumstances. Thanks for letting Ami bring Minako back here. Why don't you come in and we can get you some tea."  
  
"It is good to see you again as well Usagi-chan." Mizuno-san replied  
  
Mizuno-san followed Usagi on in, still attempting to puzzle through everything. As Usagi turned, she was in for another shock, seeing the young girl's wings. While, yes the wings were visible when Usagi stood facing her, they were not anywhere as obvious as they were now with nothing blocking them. Taking in the other occupants of the room, she saw three other girls Ami's age, one of which she recognized as Rei and the other two whom she vaguely recognized as being Ami's other friends, plus two cats.  
  
Ami walked beside her mother, to provide the older woman with some psychological support. Noticing her mother gawking at Usagi's wings, Ami whispered softly to her mother, "And yes those are real. She is even capable of flight with them." The last bit earned her a skeptical look from her mother.  
  
Reaching where the others were sitting, Mizuno-san first went over to check on the sleeping Minako. Of those in the room, she looked the closest to Sailor Venus, plus of those here, she was the only one showing signs of injury and was also wrapped up in a blanket and asleep. Leaning over Minako, she checked the blonde's vitals and checked on a few of the bandages. At the same time behind her, her daughter scanned Minako with her computer.  
  
"She has been in and out of sleep since Ami brought her back here." Usagi said.  
  
"Well that is to be expected." Mizuno-san replied. "Her body mainly needs time to rest and recover. It does not look like moving her here aggravated anything. Other than her accelerated recovery, everything looks normal."  
  
Finished checking on Minako, she went to sit down on one of the chairs in the room. With her duties as a doctor concluded, it was now time to be a mother again and get the answers. In walking past her daughter, she saw the computer that Ami was using. She instantly recognized it as showing medical readouts of Minako; though, she had no clue as to how anything like that could be monitoring Minako in real time.  
  
Having noticed her mother glancing at her Mercury Computer, Ami decided that letting her mother look at it more closely might be a good way to start this explanation. Walking over to her mom, she handed the blue haired lady the computer. "This computer is a relic that survived the fall of the Silver Millennium. In raw computation speed this computer makes even the super computer of the American NSA agency look slow."  
  
Her mother had trouble believing that statement and her expression clearly conveyed that. Laughing a bit, Usagi spoke "Ami-chan had a similar reaction as she began to realize the full power of her computer and Central Control. However, what she says is true. My kingdom had technology far in advance of anything on Earth, though we often preferred the use of magic to technology."  
  
Not fully convinced, Mizuno-san decided to accept her daughter's statement for the moment and instead began to examine the device. The device had her attention, and details of its relative power to anything else on Earth could wait till later. As she looked at it, Ami began to explain how it worked. "Right now I am have it in a medical mode, monitoring Minako. Displayed over here are her vital signs and this projection of her body here has her injuries highlighted." Ami said as she began pointing out the various elements of the display to her mother.  
  
While there were many symbols and characters on the screen in a language that she could not make out, the gist of what was being displayed was quite clear. While the blonde appeared to be in good condition, there was still substantial healing to go. A column of numbers displayed in red drew her attention. Having gotten the general feel for the display she was now trying to understand the details. "Ami, what do these numbers mean?"  
  
Looking at the numbers that her mom was referring to, Ami thought, Well hopefully I will be able to succinctly answer this question, especially since I have only begun to understand what those numbers represent myself. "Those numbers represent Minako's energy reserves and net energy flux."  
  
Blank looks across the room greeted Ami's response. Taking a deep breath, the blue haired genius tried to expand her explanation and not loose anyone. "Every living thing generates a life energy for lack of a better term; this energy in turn nourishes our soul. Those trained in magic can learn to sustain their soul's with their energy stores, in addition to casting healing spells."  
  
"So that is why Sailor Venus is still alive," suggested Mizuno-san. "And I guess that you must have healing spells that automatically activate."  
  
"That is essentially correct. However, except for Usagi we all have an additional advantage. You see the eight Guardian Sailor Senshi of the Silver Millennium are planetary avatars, our souls are constantly a washed in energy from our guardian planets. This flux of energy, that number…" Ami said as she pointed out the corresponding number on the display. "…nourishes our soul and heals us when we are injured, it creates the protective magic of our Senshi fuku, and is what we use to cast our spells."  
  
"Like regular mages we can also store our energy, which allows us to cast our more powerful attacks. For us, there is no distinction between our own life energy and that which we get from our planets. Unfortunately, this means we can die just by casting a spell. We may be essentially immortal, but should our soul ever be insufficiently nourished even for a moment, we will die.  
  
A solemn looking Usagi nodded, "It is what happened to my mother, Queen Serenity, when she used the Ginzuishou at full strength to send us here to be reborn and to seal away the darkness. The crystal consumed all her energy including that of her soul."  
  
Usagi's comment placed a solemn mood over the group. Moving quickly to console her friend before the girl depressed herself, Mars moved to sit by Usagi and pull the silver haired girl into a hug. "Usa-chan focus on the bright future you will make and your daughter." Reid said quietly to her friend.  
  
Unfortunately it was not quiet enough, as Mizuno-san asked, "Usagi's pregnant?"  
  
Haruka practically laughed at the question, and as a result sprayed her tea out over the room. "Usagi pregnant? No, Rei is referring to the little rabbit from the future." Haruka said, as Michiru attempted to help her partner recover.  
  
"The future?" was all that Mizuno-san could ask.  
  
"Yes the future, and that is where I come in." came a voice from behind the group. Letting the temporal portal close, Sailor Pluto walked over to join the others. Looking at Ami she asked, "How are Minako and Usagi doing?"  
  
"They are doing alright Setsuna-san."  
  
"Good." She replied, then finding a seat, she continued addressing Ami's mother. "I am the Guardian of Time and Space, I am the reason why Small Lady is here."  
  
"ChibiUsa," added Ami in a whisper to her mother.  
  
Having only seen the child once, it took Mizuno-san a few moments to remember her. Though once she had, she instantly realized the resemblance. "Ah yes, I can now see the resemblance. I guess if surviving a blast like Minako did is possible then traveling through time is not so unreasonable either. Though, this is going to take time for me to get my mind around. It is getting late, and I should be heading home and you girls probably should be heading off to sleep as you have school tomorrow. But, I do have one more question that needs to be answered, Ami earlier in the car you mentioned something about your past catching up with you. And now Usagi has mentioned something about her mother dieing, however as far as I know Ikuko- san is alive and well."  
  
Of course she would just have to go ahead and ask the hardest question out there. Ami thought to herself. However, it was not she who answered the doctor's question.  
  
Instead, the answer came from Usagi, or more accurately Princess Serenity, for she had shifted to her princess dress and let her crescent moon shine brightly on her forehead. "You know me as Tsukino Usagi, however this was not my first time being born into this world. Slightly over a thousand Earth years ago an empire was removed from this solar system and eight souls were sent to be reborn in the future.  
  
"You see the Silver Millennium encompassed the other planets of this system. We came eons ago from elsewhere to watch over life on this planet. However, we missed an evil that seeped into the hearts of Terrans, which drove some of them to lust after the power of the Moon kingdom and gave them the power to defeat Sailor Senshi.  
  
"No one from the Silver Millennium, except for Sailor Pluto survived the attack on the moon. The Sailor Senshi were cut down and with the fall of the Moon millions of innocent civilians on the planets died. Only in a final stand that cost my mother her life, was she able to use the power of the Ginzuishou to seal away the evil. She also sent our souls into the future to be reborn. However, these two spells were intertwined and our rebirth began the release of this evil, an evil that is now no more."  
  
Her speech finished Serenity collapsed down back to her seat by Rei. The priestess placed a hand over Usagi's to give the girl strength. Mizuno-san could easily tell that this was a very abridged version of events and that Usagi obviously had significant emotional stake in the tale. As such, she decided to accept for now the story as given, later she would get her daughter to expand on Usagi's tale.  
  
Instead, she stood up. "Well Ami and I should get going. I would like to thank you for the hospitality. This will be a bit of change, but I probably can come up with more than enough questions in payback for Ami keeping this from me."  
  
Usagi smiled in reply and along with Makoto walked with the two to the door. After letting them out, she returned to where the others sat and let out a large yawn. "I think we should all follow Mizuno-san's advice and head on home." Luna said.  
  
"Hai," agreed Usagi. "Though what about Minako?" she asked.  
  
"We have already taken care of that." Makoto replied. "We called her parents earlier this evening and convinced them that Minako was currently occupied but wanted them to know that she was going to be staying with me this evening." Makoto smiled a bit as she remembered that little bit of acting that she and Rei had to do, considering that the usual question would have been why doesn't she just call back when she isn't occupied.  
  
"Ok," Usagi replied. "Mako-chan would you mind if I spent the night here? I want to keep an eye on Minako."  
  
Makoto knew why the silver haired girl wanted to stay, she was still feeling a bit guilty over what she had done to the blonde. "Hai." she replied. Let me get some stuff for you to sleep with."  
  
Offering Rei and Setsuna, who was remaining in the time-stream, a ride Haruka and Michiru headed for the door. Though before they got there, Rei realized something. Due to that little snowman fiasco earlier this evening, Ami had changed out of her clothes into a robe, but did she ever put those clothes back on. "Minna, was Ami still wearing the robe when she left?"  
  
  
  
Mother and daughter walked down along the road. Ami had thought of asking Haruka for a lift, but figured her mother might like the quietness of the walk to ask some more questions. Shivering a bit she looked down and suddenly realized that she was still wearing Makoto's green robe. Blushing from embarrassment, she accused her mother, "Mom, why did you not tell me I was wearing only a robe when we left?"  
  
Mizuno-san stopping and looking at her daughter, for the first time took note of what the girl was wearing. Yep, Ami was indeed clad only in a robe. Shows you where my mind has been this past half hour. "All of your little surprises kept me from noticing what you were wearing. Plus when you first changed back, it was in the darkness of the car."  
  
"Hai, I guess so." Ami replied, disappointed that she could not blame her current predicament on her mom. Deciding that she did not want to walk the rest of the way home clad only in a robe, she had only one option. With a shimmer the robe vanished to be replaced by the dress that she had been wearing on that fateful night a thousand years ago. For some unknown reason the memory of their final dresses were etched in each of their minds. Just getting their communicators to appear as simple watches or bracelets was complex enough, yet these items required no effort to recreate. She guessed that the dresses must somehow still exist, possibly caught up with them as they were sent into the future. "Well that is better." Ami said.  
  
Mizuno-san decided to wait till later to ask about the dress, though it did look very good on her daughter. Hmm, maybe this means that I don't have to buy her any expensive clothing if she can just change bathrobes into them. "And why pray tell were you wearing a bathrobe in the first place."  
  
With a guilty laugh, Ami explained the reason to her mother. "Well earlier this evening I had to leap off the roof of Makoto's apartment complex." Seeing her mother's questioning look, she added "It is a long story for another time. But to protect myself during the fall, I encased myself in snow. Unfortunately, when I got up after landing on the ground I failed to ensure that I had brushed all the snow and water off my uniform. Hence when I reverted back, all that snow and ice melted and well my clothes got very wet."  
  
Mizuno-san could only laugh and shake her head at her daughter's explanation. She must have had her mind focused on something else. she thought as she remembered the other times daughter's utter focus on something got her unknowingly in trouble. "I do have to say, though, that that dress looks very good on you."  
  
That remark lightened up Ami's mood, and while she was not one for fashion, she still twirled around on the spot to let her mother see all angles of the attire. "Thankfully unlike Usagi, we don't have any strong memories of the fall, only vague recollections of events. This dress is the one that I wore the night that we all died. I guess somehow it got saved along with our souls."  
  
The mentioning of Usagi reminded Mizuno-san of something. "Ami, when you were explaining things, you kept separating Usagi out from the rest of you. I would assume that with that crescent moon on her forehead that she is Sailor Moon."  
  
"That is because Usagi is different from the rest of us, a difference that I am still attempting to puzzle out. You see back during the Silver Millennium there was no Senshi of the Moon. The Senshi of the four innermost planets protected the queen and then upon the birth of the princess, the princess. Whereas the Senshi of the three outmost planets stood guard against any threats from the outside.  
  
"We were princess, because we were our planet's chosen avatar. Usagi was the Moon Princess because she could control the power of the Ginzuishou, a power magical artifact that only the line of Serenity can wield. This crystal is also coincidently what supported life on the other planets and moons. I believe that Usagi has a similar relationship with the Ginzuishou as we do with our planets, or at least in terms of the net result. It is because of the Ginzuishou and the great power that it gives Usagi, that the princess is able to fight as a Sailor Senshi even though she is not one."  
  
This explanation seemed to satisfy Mizuno-san and the two walked more or less in silence for the next few minutes. Breaking the silence, Mizuno-san said "Ami, I want to let you know that I am proud of you. You are still my daughter and that I will always be here for you."  
  
Hearing those words caused Ami to breakdown and she threw herself into her mom's arms. Feeling the warmth of the embrace and the unconditional love, she finally realized what Usagi was talking about earlier tonight. Yes, she would not regret this decision to let her mom know the truth one bit. She now felt whole again. Her princess was truly a wonderful friend, it was a shame that she would far outlive her princess, just like she had done for many previous Serenity's.  
  
Hold it! Something is not right here. Ami thought as she suddenly broke away from her mother's embrace.  
  
"Honey what is it? What's wrong?" Mizuno-san asked.  
  
Realizing what she had done, and the mistaken thoughts her mother was likely thinking, Ami blushed. "Gomen, mom. I just realized that there is a contradiction in what I know of the past and what I know of the future. ChibiUsa comes from the 30th century, which means that Usagi will live for at least a thousand years. However, no previous Serenity has ever lived anywhere near that long. And now that I think about no Serenity ever had wings before either."  
  
Mizuno-san couldn't really help her daughter with that problem. She was still trying to make sense of magic in her view of the world. Arriving at their home, she opened the door and ushered Ami in. "It is time for bed, so no working on this problem till tomorrow."  
  
Ami nodded her head in agreement, "Yes mom." and headed off to her room.  
  
End Notes:  
  
-Yeah, finally after much delay I have this chapter finished. Note to my self, in the future don't write such long chapters, they take forever to finish, even when you do break them into two parts. And to think that these two chapters were originally supposed to be a small lead in segment to the next chapter(.  
  
-At least now, the enemies won't be a walk in the park for the Senshi anymore, which was the one problem with powering up Sailor Moon to her eternal form so soon. But don't worry you haven't seen the end of this issue or the questions that Ami was brining up  
  
-The hardest part of writing this chapter was figuring out how to write some of the explanations that the Ami and was using, since they don't yet know about Star Seeds. Hopefully I got the balance correct with them knowing that they get their powers from their planets, but not realizing that they and their planets are one soul.  
  
-Thanks to Comet Moon for the suggestion of how Ami's mom would learn about her daughter's secret. Though it only took me what a year plus to write that part into the story.  
  
-There are two fanfics out there that I am trying to find. One is a Tenchi Muyo: Ryo-Ohki! X-files cross over. It basically recounts the OAV timeline and explains in detail lots of the Tenchi OAV lore. Unfortunately I never bothered to write down the author's name and now can't find that fic on Fanfiction anymore. The other fic I am looking for is a Sailor Moon fic that takes place after the stars season. It focuses on the death of Mamoru's family and the detective who had been working on the case. She suspected it was murder, but case was closed down, but now suddenly was reopened again. If anyone recognizes either of these fics could they drop me an email? Thanks :).  
  
-For those of you playing the home game, there is still one more traveler from the future to make his/her appearance. See if you can guess who this final player in this temporal disaster will be. (  
  
-Well hopefully with better timing (and a bit shorter on the writing length) chapter 26 will be out beginning the end of the Ail and Ann arc of the second book. 


	26. The Fall of Night

The Fragility of Time  
  
BOOK TWO: "Falling Towards Apotheosis"  
  
Chapter 26 "The Fall of Night"  
  
Author: etj4Eagle  
  
Email: etj4Eagle@yahoo.com  
  
http://www.geocities.com/etj4eagle  
  
Lasted Edited: 3/22/02  
  
Disclaimer: A reminder I own none of the characters of this story, all rights are owned by others. However, the unique circumstances of the story are mine. If you distribute the story, do only so freely and inform me of where you post it.  
  
1.1 Chapter 26: "The Fall of Night"  
  
Prime Minister Yue returned his empty cup to the table. He tried to think how many cups of this vile drink he had had this evening, far too many he supposed. But the caffeine was the only thing that was still keeping him alert. However, it was also leaving him less able to deal with the bickering that had pushed this emergency meeting of his ministers into the wee hours of the morning.  
  
Attempting to pay attention to the discussion around him, he realized that Defense Minister Raidon was once again speaking or more accurately complaining. Raidon was the primary reason why this meeting had not ended hours ago, or at least that was how his sleep-deprived mind was seeing it. "Something needs to be done about these vigilantly fighters." Minister Raidon complained. "Till this afternoon no lasting damage or injury resulted from this latest series of attacks. But as soon as these Sailor Senshi became involved, we got massive damage. We are just lucky that everyone got out of that tunnel before that explosion occurred."  
  
"I assure you that any damage the Sailor Senshi have caused and may cause in the future will be minor compared to what those forces practicing blood magic are capable of. You in the muggle have no concept of the death and destruction that just one wizard can unleash with the right spells and curses." The Magic Minister replied.  
  
"And I am supposed to take your word on that. You a ministry that till recently never even existed and one that I now find out further has had spies in the rest of our government. I am not even sure where your loyalties lie. Maybe you and your shadow government are in league with these Sailor Senshi and plan on deposing the emperor and crown Sailor Moon the new empress." The defense minister fired back.  
  
Finally having had enough with the evening long bickering between the Defense Minister and the Magi Minister, Yue yelled, "Enough!" He knew that he should not have been too surprised at Raidon's response or for that matter of any of the others to learning about the secret world of magic users, after all the men in this room were used to knowing everything.  
  
Now that he had the attention of everyone in the room, he continued, "As I said when I briefed you on the Ministry of Magic at the beginning of this evening, the various wizards have always been loyal citizens of Japan and the Magic Ministry has faithfully served the emperor for the past thousand years. Because of a desire to keep magic affairs separate from our affairs, none of you nor me was ever briefed on them, since under normal circumstances we would never need to know.  
  
"But now things have changed, and they can't simply clean up the damage and keep the population from worrying when the attacks are televised on the evening news. The Magic Counsel of the United Nations passed a resolution shortly after that false asteroid hit our city recommending that the various Magic Ministries around the globe reveal themselves to their full governments.  
  
"Unfortunately it appears that the Sailor Senshi are still the best suited for fighting this war we find ourselves in. However, I do agree with Minister Raidon that we should not rely on them solely for our defense; we have no way of knowing how long their goals match our own. That is why I want the Ministry of Magic to work with the Ministry of Defense to analyze these attacks, figure out what is going on, and to put together effective strike teams for dealing with what we face. And I also want to know if any of this has to deal with the previous war that we so conveniently forgot about due to these memory charms."  
  
Satisfied that all around him understood his directives, the Prime Minister formally closed the meeting before standing up and leaving the room. Checking his watch, he figured that he could still get a few hours of sleep before he had to return to the stack of crises on his desk. Hopefully he would have a day or two before those two ministers attempted to vie for power once again. He understood the whys for why the Magic Ministry had shielded itself in secrecy till now, he just wished that he didn't have to deal with the fallout of those secrets. Stopping at a water fountain, he took some painkillers for his massive headache before heading out of the building. Just give me a week of norm before throwing another incident like today. he wished for as he settled into his car.  
  
* * *  
  
Opening her eyes, Ami greeted the morning sun. After her late night, she would have liked to be able to roll back over to sleep. Unfortunately, she had school and so instead, she got up and opened the blinds to greet the morning sky. Dressing, she headed downstairs. Getting herself some sandwiches for breakfast, Ami was a bit surprised to see that her mom was not up. She had thought that her mother would surely have been waiting for her with questions.  
  
Ami secretly felt glad that her mother was apparently still asleep. It was not that she didn't want to answer her mother's questions, she just was unsure of how her mother was going to react now that she had been able to sleep on the information. And, she had a feeling that any discussion that the two of them had would take far longer than the little time she had before having to head off to school.  
  
* * *  
  
Feeling a presence beside her and the warm comfort of a hand resting on the side of her chest, Minako opened her eyes. Turning her head, she came eye to eye with Usagi who was kneeling down beside where she had been sleeping on the couch. Giving her friend a smile, Minako began to get up.  
  
Helping her friend sit up, Usagi asked, "How you feeling this morning V- chan?"  
  
"Other than feeling like I got hit by an eighteen wheeler, I feel fine." Minako replied. Her quiet grunts and moans further told of the how much she was still feeling her injuries. Then changing the subject, she asked Usagi, "Though what I want to know is how you are managing to be up and so alert this early in the morning?"  
  
Standing up Usagi stretched out the stiffness that had begun to accumulate from kneeling beside Minako for the past half hour. All loose again, she looked back down at Minako and simply said, "You" before turning and heading happily towards the kitchen to where Makoto was cooking breakfast.  
  
Shortly thereafter, she was chased back out of the kitchen by a spatula- wielding chef. Seeing that Minako had gone to get ready, Usagi decided that she could pass the final few minutes before the pancakes were ready by sitting on the couch. However, her stomach did not like that idea and grumbled its disapproval at not being fed. While she normally had the appetite of a small village, though she often missed breakfast and instead ate her lunch for breakfast, today's hunger was more than normal.  
  
She had used up a fair bit of her energy doing something that the others would have scolded her for doing had they known that she had done it. This morning while Minako was still sleeping and Makoto was cooking breakfast, she had attempted to use some of her magic to heal Minako. She wished that she had Hotaru's gift for healing, but while what she did have was very crude, she did feel that she had managed to keep Minako's pain at a bearable level.  
  
As Usagi was beginning to decide to risk another attempt to snatch a pancake, Makoto brought out breakfast. Moving in a blur, she had herself seated and her plate all loaded with food, before Makoto had finished calling Minako to the table.  
  
* * *  
  
Later as the others were finishing up eating their breakfast at a more leisurely pace, Usagi excused herself to use the phone. Her first call was to her parents to check in, the second one however was to Haruna-sensei. She had to wait a few minutes while the school paged her teacher to the main office to take the phone call. This was not really the type of thing that one could have an aide relay, unless she wanted the town to know her identity by the evening news.  
  
"Moshi, Moshi," came the reply from the other end.  
  
"Haruna-sensei I have to apologize, but I will be arriving fairly late today." Usagi said. There was one big advantage to having your teacher know that you were a superhero and a former princess, you could call in your own excused absences. Of course that would only work for the classes that she had with Haruna-sensei, but the first one that she had with another teacher was PE and that was not till after lunch, which gave her all of the morning.  
  
"Yesterday? You are not hurt are you?" Haruna asked in response.  
  
"Iie, I am fine. Unfortunately, one of the others was not so lucky, but she is fine today. And, Hai the reason why I will not be in is because of that incident yesterday. I need to speak with Mizuno-san this morning, she found out about us yesterday."  
  
"Take all the time you need Usagi-chan." Haruna replied as she said bye to Usagi and hung up the phone.  
  
What a wonderful friend Usagi-chan is to all the others. They are lucky to have someone like that, wish that I could find a man with a shred of that quality in him. Haruna thought as she returned to her classroom to prepare for the arrival of her students. She knew that with Mizuno Ami's mother learning about her identity, Usagi-chan would be spending this morning ensuring that there was no damage to that mother-daughter relationship. She had seen the impact that Usagi already was having on that blue-haired shy genius and was glad that Ami-chan had such a friend, the girl now carried herself with a strong confidence.  
  
* * *  
  
Opening her eyes, Mizuno-san turned to look at the clock and then looked at it again not believing the time that it gave. Ugh, I had wanted to get up in time to talk with Ami before she had to head of to school. she thought, annoyed with herself for oversleeping. But I guess I really needed that extra few hours of sleep, I didn't fall asleep till almost 3 last night anyways. Plus there is always tonight for talking with her.  
  
Getting dressed she headed downstairs have breakfast. Unlike her daughter, she favored more traditional fare for breakfast, she was unsure of where Ami had picked up that habit of eating sandwiches for breakfast. It was a habit that Ami had had ever since she was real little, only later on did she begin to bring books to the table to read while she ate. Though, now as she thought about it a bit more, in light of what she had learned last night, she postulated that this sandwich habit may very well have been something that Ami was instinctively remembering from her previous life.  
  
Finished with her breakfast, Mizuno-san headed into the living room planning on spending the morning catching up on the journals. However, a knock at the door put that plan on hold for the moment. Wondering who would be calling on her in the morning, she opened the door. Instantly recognizing Usagi, she let the silver haired girl in while asking, "Don't you have school?"  
  
"Hai, I do, but I told Haruna-sensei that I had something to take care of first." Then seeing the quizzical look in the older woman's eyes, she continued, "She learned about us indirectly through Naru a little while back."  
  
"How many others know about you and your friends?" the doctor asked.  
  
"Well as I just said Naru and Haruna. Then there are my parents; the arrival of my daughter from the future kind of complicated the decision to protect our families by not telling them that we are Senshi. And then there is a gaijin priest, though he only knows about ChibiUsa and me. He was one of the carriers of the crystal shards."  
  
Walking into the kitchen to get her guest a cup of tea, Mizuno-san asked, "While I don't agree with your desire to protect us by keeping the knowledge from us, I am wondering why the change with respect to me?"  
  
Accepting the cup of hot tea, Usagi smiled and replied. "That was your daughter's decision, though one I fully agreed with." Then in more of an aside to herself she added, "even if others didn't" Taking a sip of the tea, Usagi continued, "I do however, believe that she needs you to know the truth.  
  
"We all draw strength from each other to face the hardships of being a Senshi. In this respect, Ami is no different from the others and having to be a Senshi would pose no problem for her. However, there is another element to being a Senshi, duty and obligation. And in this regard, Ami is different from the rest of us. She has dreams for her future, ones that are more than a simple schoolgirl fantasy. And I am sure that she has even planned every step along the path to her dreams.  
  
"Hai, she has." Mizuno-san said and nodded her head in assent beginning to see what Usagi was driving at.  
  
"However, because of me her life is now turned upside down." Mizuno-san wanted to object at that statement, however, Usagi held up her hand and continued. "As just a Sailor Senshi, she was always able to hope that before long the enemies would be defeated and that she could continue pursuing her dream. However, because of me, because of an oath she took three thousand years ago things are different.  
  
"When she joined the rank of the Sailor Senshi, she took an oath to always protect the line of Serenity. She like the others is willing to sacrifice any and everything including their own lives to fulfill that oath, and nothing that I can say can change that. And it is because of that duty that she has given up her dreams, because she no longer believes that they lie along the path of her destiny. She feels that her future is that of a military officer, not a doctor.  
  
Ami's mother looked a bit surprised as Usagi described the depth of the Senshi Oath. While she had gathered from last night that the girls were some kind of royal guard for their princess, Usagi, she had not realized how deep that sense of responsibility really was. As much as the magnitude of what being a Sailor Senshi from a long dead kingdom meant to Ami surprised her mother, it also told Mizuno-san exactly what she needed to do. Till now she had not known how she should now act around Ami, but now she realized a truth that she should never have forgotten. It was true that Ami was a reborn super hero, but Ami was still a fourteen-year-old child who has had her dreams crushed.  
  
"Don't feel bad about missing it." Usagi said referring to the crushed dreams. Then seeing the curious expression from the older woman, she added, "I can feel your grief. I may not be the best student academically or the best fighter, but I always know what others are feeling." Then thinking to herself, Especially after that battle in the artic, it awoke something in me. Since then, I have always been awash in a river of emotions.  
  
"Anyways like I was saying, don't feel bad about missing it, since done of the others have realized that anything is wrong with Ami-chan either. And, I only realized it all last night. You see when Ami remembered her promise to you, she pulled me aside and broke down in telling me what she had done, feeling that she had failed me. During those moments as I tried to calm her, I was able to feel the raw emotion in her soul and suddenly understood."  
  
"Hai," Mizuno-san said, reluctantly agreeing not to blame herself for missing her daughter's troubles. Though at the same time, there was no excuse for how much time she was spending away from her daughter. I guess that I will just have to fix that today. Usagi doesn't just look like an angel she really is one. I am glad she came into my daughter's life.  
  
"Well it is time for me to finally be heading off to school." Usagi said in a tone that conveyed every dislike she had for her dreaded school. "However, I can safely rest now, knowing that you will be there for Ami- chan and that I don't have to worry about her. Thanks for the tea."  
  
"Anytime." Mizuno-san replied. "Thanks for stopping by. Because of you I don't have to worry about how to act around my daughter, she is still my child and still has problems that I can solve. Arigatoo Usagi-chan. And I won't hold anything against her for not telling me. Anyways you are her princess, so I guess that means I should take my ire up with you."  
  
With that final comment, Usagi slowly backed towards the door, realizing that Mizuno-san might want some blood before this little meeting was over. "Actually the not telling wasn't my idea it was Luna's and at the time none of us knew that I was the Moon Princess."  
  
"Luna?" Mizuno-san asked, not knowing whom Usagi could be referring to.  
  
"Hai, she is my cat, black with a golden crescent moon mark on her forehead like mine. And no I am not crazy; she is capable of human speech. I am not exactly sure of all the whys but I do remember that she was from a different star system. I'll send her over at some point so that she can explain her logic to you. Ja ne." The last bit Usagi said quickly as she tore away from the front door.  
  
Mizuno-san chuckled to herself at Usagi's reaction. Guess that I came across a little too much there at the end. Well after the shocks of last night, I deserve a little humor.  
  
* * *  
  
For the two weeks following the tunnel mishap, Rubeus and the two aliens managed to keep the Sailor Senshi on their toes. Between the two of them, the Senshi were forced to fight just about every other day. This allowed Rubeus to place a dozen of his energy collecting crystals.  
  
Unlike the droids that the Senshi fought, these crystals were strictly energy collectors. When activated they would flood the area with dark energy and channel the energy of the crystal points to what remained of the Dark Poison Crystal. And hopefully while they remained dormant, they would be undetectable by the Senshi.  
  
However, since he was trapped between time, the Wiseman did not want to take any chances with gathering the energy necessary to open the gateway. Consequently, Rubeus was planting two sets of these crystals. One set he accompanied with a demon attack nearby. The other half of the collectors he had placed with no fanfare. That way if the Senshi did manage to discover one of the collectors, that crystal would only lead them to half of the others.  
  
Finding the center of this Crystal Point's manna pool, Rubeus placed the collector crystal. Standing back up, he looked around to find a nice target for the decoy droid. Seeing a nearby school, he smiled and walked over. The innocent children caught in the middle of the attack would make this target perfect. Teleporting inside the building he walked to the front of one of the classrooms, there he placed the droid crystal on a teacher's desk. Casting the activation spell, he teleported back out of the school.  
  
Now floating in the air above the school grounds, he surveyed the scene before preparing to leave. He hoped that the Wiseman would soon have him directly attack the Senshi again. While he knew how dangerous Serenity was, his desire for mayhem was starting to get the better of him. However, what he really wanted to see was the expression on Serenity's face when he activated the network of crystals. He looked forward to seeing her collapse to the ground in utter pain as her life force was diverted from her body and the terror on her Senshi faces as they realized they could do nothing, nothing at all. Laughing at that final thought, Rubeus vanished.  
  
* * *  
  
The following day as the bell rang announcing the end of the morning periods, Hotaru quickly put away her stuff and grabbed her lunch. For her, lunch was one of the best parts of the day, even better than the end of the day, as during lunch she could spend time with her best friend. Yes, some days they would spend time together after school, but more often than not Hotaru had to go home right after school, Kaolinite's orders, and she felt it to be just wrong to bring the light that was ChibiUsa to the darkness of her home.  
  
Meeting up with her best friend, the two of them walked to their normal spot. They normally ate under an elderly tree, which of late seemed to be getting a second wind at life, something that Hotaru took as a promising sign. "So ChibiUsa-chan how were your classes this morning?" the dark haired girl asked.  
  
Looking up from her lunch, ChibiUsa wondered why her friend wanted to waste such a wonderfully beautiful lunch time talking about something as worthless as school. "Ok I guess, however Uraki-sensei yelled at me for not paying attention a few times. Guess I am more like my mom than I would like to admit." ChibiUsa chuckled a bit at that last bit remembering how she had teased Usagi relentless about her "stupidity" the last time she was in the past.  
  
The two girls continued eating their lunch while idly discussing various things, though to ChibiUsa's delight the conversation did drift from school to other subjects. Unfortunately, screams of terror brought an early end to their lunch. Looking up apprehensively, ChibiUsa saw what she had feared; a demon was here at her school. Dropping their lunch, the two girls quickly scrambled to their feet while looking for a place to run.  
  
Taking a good look at the monster, Hotaru asked, "Is that supposed to be a sunflower?" The creature in question was some kind of demonic plant and did vaguely resemble a sunflower, with a large yellow head. Unfortunately the pollen that it released was not harmless, instead the children it touched fell to the ground unconscious.  
  
Wondering about what the demon was supposed to be did not dull Hotaru's reaction to the situation. Already moving while ChibiUsa was still considering her comment; she grabbed the pink haired girl's hand and dashed towards the perceived safety of the school building. Seeing a teacher come out of the building, she felt some instinctive relief of having an authority figure there to deal with the situation.  
  
Unfortunately, the teacher in question did not seem too concerned with safety of the students. Instead, he was quite upset that the monster in question was attacking this particular group of children. "What do you think you are doing? These are my victims. I am the one collecting energy here." The teacher said has his body convulsed and grew in size, becoming another demon.  
  
Surprised and scared at seeing the teacher become another demon, Hotaru skidded to a stop. Unfortunately, ChibiUsa who was now running on her own power had not seen the teacher's metamorphosis and instead plowed into Hotaru, knocking the two of them to the ground.  
  
"Hotaru-chan why did you stop?" The pink haired girl asked, and then added "Oh." when Hotaru pointed to the second demon. This is not good, two of these creatures and I can't henshin with Hotaru here.  
  
While ChibiUsa tried to figure out how she could safely get away from Hotaru to henshin, the other girl had already come to a decision. Grabbing her friend's arm once again, she pulled ChibiUsa back up to her feet and then with her friend in tow made for a row of bushes by the property wall.  
  
Getting halfway to the bushes, they were thrown back down when the ground beside them exploded. Having hit the ground hard, it took a dazed Hotaru a few moments to clear her vision. Looking around, she noticed that the two demons were actually fighting each other, and that it was only a stray blast that had hit her and ChibiUsa. Strange, guess these bad guys don't all get along well with each other. Either that or these things have little brains. Hotaru thought to herself, and then after watching them for a bit more she decided that whatever was the case that they also had very little in the way of brains.  
  
Unfortunately with the damage those two were doing to the surrounding area, she knew that she and ChibiUsa had to get to safety if they wanted to live to see the end of the day. Looking over at her friend who was now sitting back up as well, she asked, "You okay, ChibiUsa?"  
  
"Hai, I think so."  
  
"Come on then, we need to get out of here." Hotaru said as she helped ChibiUsa back up to her feet. With escape now being their only option, they had to head for the school's gate. Unfortunately, the two creatures were also in that direction. Though thankfully, they were not directly in the way, so they might still have a chance of making it. Motioning to her friend, she said, "This way" as she took off running.  
  
They might have made it safely out of the schoolyard, but lady luck still had them in ill repute. And, as the two girls were getting ready to make a break for the gate, three others arrive and they were not the Sailor Senshi.  
  
"What the hell?" exclaimed Rubeus as he arrived. The activation of his droid to its demonic form had summoned him. But whereas he had expected to find the Sailor Senshi fighting it, he instead found another demon fighting it. Great just great, interlopers. Ah there they are, well I guess I will just have see about ensuring that this never happens again. Then addressing the two aliens on the far side of the yard, "It would be rude not to introduce myself before I kill you, I am Rubeus from the dark planet Nemesis." he said before unleashing his trademark dark energy spheres.  
  
Looking up at the new comer, Ail and Ann barely had enough time to register the attack before it arrived. Hastily creating shield spells, the two were knocked to the ground. Getting to her feet, Ann looked over at Ail, but saw that he was unconscious with ugly energy burns over much of his body. Looking back up at Rubeus fire entered her eyes and she took to the air. Her left arm had been caught by the blast, but she paid no head to the pain. Instead, while returning to the sky she unleashed an attack of her own at Rubeus.  
  
The speed of her recovery fed by her need for vengeance took Rubeus by surprise and he fell to the ground as he took the full brunt of her attack. However, he was far from out and quickly teleported to a new location before retaliating with another energy attack.  
  
For the two youngsters trying to make their way to the school gate, the schoolyard suddenly became hell itself. The two demons at least did not have the brains to move around that much, so their collateral damage was somewhat confined. However, these other two were not so thoughtful. Instead, as they looked for an advantage and avoided incoming attack, the two teleported willy-nilly around the yard.  
  
The net result was that nothing and no one in the area was now safe. Only meters from the gate, Hotaru and ChibiUsa ran out of time, as the ground beneath their feet was ripped apart. Flying through the air the two hit the ground hard and slid into the wall surrounding the school property.  
  
Somehow, Hotaru had remained conscious throughout it all, feeling the heat of the blast, the crushing impact of hitting the ground, the burn as debris was embedded in her skin and then the jarring stop has her back slid into the wall. With all the pain that her body was feeling, she just wanted to let her eyes close and the darkness of unconsciousness sweep away the pain. However, a love for her friend resonated just as strong. And instead of giving in, all she wanted to do was get back to her feet and protect her only friend.  
  
Following her heart's desire, Hotaru forced her eyes open all the way, as she rolled over onto her knees. Not looking at her shredded uniform or at the blood that was running down her arms, she put a hand down on the ground to stabilize herself as she stood up. Walking slowly over to where ChibiUsa now lay, she checked on the other girl.  
  
ChibiUsa looked awful with her uniform just as badly torn to shreds and with gashes all over her body. Rolling her friend to her back, she checked to ensure that ChibiUsa was still breathing. A large cut on the other girl's forehead riled her anger even more. Reassured for the moment, she turned to face the battle.  
  
Having not yet thought of what to do next, such as getting ChibiUsa and continuing their dash for the gate, Hotaru looked up and her face drained of all color. There heading towards them were five spheres of sizzling black energy. With horror, she realized that in a matter of moments that it would all be over. Doing the only thing she could do, she raised her arms up in futile attempt to block the attack as she cried out "Iie!!!"  
  
Anger over the situation now taking full control, she became lost to the moment as her body erupted in energy. Coursing along her body, the energy flowed up to her arms and from there radiated outward to form a shield of silence. Without a second thought, Rubeus's attack was neutralized, and the Mistress of Silence dropped her arms.  
  
The black haired child was no longer Hotaru; with a purple glow in her eyes and the sigil of Saturn glowing brightly on her forehead, she was now nothing more than the embodiment of Saturn's power. As she looked harshly at the combatants, tendrils of a very dark violet-black energy began to be whipped up. Some of this joined with its mistress, other tendrils left her body, and still others just existed in the area. As the energy built the sounds of battle gave way to absolute silence.  
  
With the silence's arrival, Rubeus and Ann paused in their combat. It was now that they first took notice of the Mistress of Silence. Neither of them could make out any of her features due to her injuries and the arcs of black lightning around her body. Looking past this newcomer, Rubeus saw a pink haired child on the ground. However, the first girl prevented him from examining the other child any further.  
  
Seeing that she had their attention, Hotaru raised her one of her arms. As she did so, energy tendrils began to pull together coalescing into a ball of energy in her hand. Seeing this occur, Rubeus and Ann suddenly felt that it would be very wise to erect their strongest shields. Looking up at the two, the Mistress of Silence declared that, "This ends now."  
  
Hotaru's power up for attack had also drawn the attention of the two demons, causing them to pause in their battle. However, unlike their masters they did not realize the grave danger that they were in and instead gawked stupidly at their executioner. Her lips curling up into a chilling smile she lowered her gaze to see the two demons. Opening wide her hand she said one word, "Silence."  
  
From one moment to the next, a ball of energy had raced from her hand to the two creatures, which were conveniently located next to each other. Without any sound, the demons disappeared in a flash of light, nothing remaining.  
  
Looking up at the other two she mouthed "leave," as she one again raised her hand. Not wanting to give this girl a chance to take him out, Rubeus immediately teleported away. Ann, for her part, dropped down to where her brother lay on the ground and gathered him up into her arms before leaving.  
  
Turning back to the unconscious child, this new warrior placed her hand on the other's chest. In her hand, she held the energy of silence that she had already gathered again for a second attack and she unleashed it, but this time as healing energy. Funneling all the energy of her next attack plus that, which had been fueling her anger into healing energy, Hotaru collapsed to the ground on top of ChibiUsa.  
  
ChibiUsa glowed with the violet healing energy, before an explosion of pink light erupted from her own body to caress the bodies of both girls. When the light faded, nothing more than some cuts and scrapes remained on the two girls. A few minutes later, feeling a weight on her chest, ChibiUsa opened her eyes.  
  
Unsure of what had happened or where she was, ChibiUsa tried to sit up. But that action was prevented by the weight that had convinced her to open her eyes instead of sleeping some more. This time just moving her head, she saw that the weight was Hotaru; turning her head, she saw the remains of the schoolyard. As she saw the destruction, the memories of the attack flooded back.  
  
I guess the others must have arrived and taken care of the two demons while I was out. Though where is Usagi? I thought she would have been here with me in her arms waiting for me to wake up. ChibiUsa thought. She was quite surprised that her mother was not there, and bit sadden as well. Though I guess Ami and Rei probably pulled her away, since otherwise Hotaru might have figured something out, considering that she is on top of me. rationalized the child.  
  
Looking around again, she noticed that other people were beginning to wake up. Considering that she still felt a bit groggy and figuring that help would be arriving soon, ChibiUsa decided that it would be best to just lie here on the ground and await help. Noticing that Hotaru had finally awoken, she grasped the other girl's hand and smiled.  
  
* * *  
  
Eating her lunch, Haruka paused as her body suddenly shivered. Looking at Michiru, she saw that the other girl had felt it as well. "The Messiah of Silence," Haruka voiced as she realized what it was that she had felt.  
  
"Hai." Michiru replied.  
  
"Have we already lost?" Haruka asked disheartened that the war might already be over.  
  
Pausing for a bit to sort out what the seas were telling her, Michiru replied, "I don't think so. The Messiah is not yet awake, but the process of its awakening has already begun."  
  
"Hai." Haruka acknowledge as she realized that the power she had felt was already gone, returned to its slumber. "The enemy has yet to make a move for the heart crystals, something must be causing the Messiah to awaken on its own."  
  
"If that is the case then we have even less time to find the Talismans. The Messiah is connected to those Talismans and will easily be able to find the pure heart crystals that hold them. We have to find the Grail and give it to the Messiah of light before something fully awakens the Messiah of Silence."  
  
Agreeing with her love's analysis, Haruka said, "Agreed, we will have to begin our search as soon as classes are over for the day."  
  
* * *  
  
"There was a what?!" Usagi screeched as ChibiUsa attempted to ask her about the demon attack at her school. Then making an abrupt change from preparing to scold ChibiUsa, the silver haired girl picked the other girl up and begun examining her for injuries and asked, "Are you ok?"  
  
The others were equally surprised when ChibiUsa mentioned the demon attack. Of the others, Rei recovered first and quickly realized that she needed to intercede to keep ChibiUsa alive. Very quickly she realized that it was futile to attempt to reason with Usagi, as that girl appeared to be both trying to strangle and mother her child to death at the same time. Figures, she thought to herself.  
  
Finally getting fed up with the odango-atama, she grabbed ChibiUsa out of Usagi's arms and deposited her into the arms of a surprised Ami. Unfortunately, this meant that she now had the full fury of Usagi bearing down on herself.  
  
"Rei!" Usagi yelled.  
  
Well at least ChibiUsa is out of harms way for the moment. Rei thought as she backed up and gulped a bit before responding. "Odango-atama why don't we let Ami-chan check ChibiUsa out and find out what happened first." she said with her usual fire.  
  
Pausing for a moment Usagi thought this suggestion over. Then as her features drooped, she accepted Rei's apparent scolding. "But…" she whined out.  
  
"I know how much you are worried about ChibiUsa and even more so because she did not call us. However, there will be time for that, right now lets let Ami-chan check her out, ChibiUsa might have some internal injuries like a cracked rib. Then after that we can find out what happened and why she did not contact us."  
  
"I suppose so. But I can mother her all I want when I get home this evening?" Usagi asked, hope returning to her voice.  
  
Smiling Rei replied, "Hai you can. And I think she that might just like some of that mothering then as well."  
  
Walking up to the group of his best customers, Motoki noticed that ChibiUsa's school fuku was pretty badly ripped up and that she had some nasty looking bruises and scrapes. Wanting to know what had happened to the Usagi's cousin he asked, "ChibiUsa-chan what happened to you?"  
  
Looking up at the arcade keeper, she smiled at his friendly face. "There was a monster attack at my school."  
  
"I had heard something about that on the radio. They said that the school grounds were heavily damaged. I thought though that people just pass out during these attacks?"  
  
From where she sat on one of the game stools, Makoto had to stifle a laugh. Yeah they are all pleasant except for those dozen or so ones that turned into war zones. Though now that I think of it, except for those early Rubeus attacks most of the damage I think is actually done by us. Hopefully the city will never find out who we are, or we are going to be very poor for the rest of our lives.  
  
"Not when two different demons and their masters decide to fight it out. Apparently, one demon had already laid claim to us, and another one moved in on its territory. Things fell completely apart when their masters arrived and began fighting. Shortly after that, I got caught in one of their blasts and knocked out. When I came to they were all gone, and those who had only passed out began waking up. I assume that the Sailor Senshi must have arrived and taken care of them while I was out."  
  
Motoki's expression showed that he was very concerned for his young customer. "And your injuries?" he asked.  
  
"They will heal, nothing more serious than some banged up bones and a couple nasty bruises and this one cut." Ami replied for ChibiUsa, having finished her analysis.  
  
To this Usagi, let out a large sigh of relief. As soon as Rei had mentioned the possibility of a broken rib, she had begun working herself into a worry with her daughter having every conceivable non-obvious injury. Thankfully Usagi was not forced to explain why she was sighing only now over the good news of ChibiUsa's injuries, as Motoki had not noticed her sigh.  
  
Instead, the young man said to ChibiUsa, "Tell you what, why don't you come upstairs to the Fruit Parlor with me and I will have my sister get you a sundae on the house."  
  
Like her mother, the offer of ice-cream instantly had ChibiUsa's attention and she hopped off her stool to follow Motoki upstairs. Following not far behind her was her mother and the others. After getting themselves settled in the Fruit Parlor with a snack for each and having answered the worried questions of Motoki and his younger sister, Ami and Usagi had ChibiUsa explain the attack again, this time in more detail.  
  
As she listened to the others discuss the battle, Makoto thought back to her first battle as Sailor Jupiter. That one was also an attack on ChibiUsa's school; she hoped that this wasn't the beginning of a pattern. She remembered how in the middle of class, Usagi's head had suddenly snapped up with an utter foreboding on her face. And then only moments after Usagi had left the room, Ami had followed her out of the room. She herself had left class not much longer after that.  
  
She guessed that while she did not consciously know that she was Sailor Jupiter, the instinct of protecting her princess was there, even if she had not known then that Usagi was her princess. She had never been able to figure out how she had been able to find the others that afternoon. Somehow, her instincts just lead her to the battle; maybe it was some kind of connection with her princess, which reminded her of something. That day, Usagi had known instantly that her daughter was in trouble, but today in a battle just as bad if not worse she had been clueless to what happened.  
  
Deciding to voice this contradiction, Makoto asked, "There is something I don't understand. Why didn't Usagi-chan know that ChibiUsa was in trouble like the other time her school was attacked?"  
  
Her questioned stumped the others.  
  
Usagi thought about it for a moment. "Mako-chan's right. It's hard to describe but I can sense ChibiUsa's well being. Her fear or pain hits me right here in the heart, even if I am separated by miles from her. But this time I felt nothing." Then pausing to think about it a bit more, she continued, "I didn't really notice it then, guess because that math exam was taking all my concentration, but now that I do think about it, I did feel something different then, nothing. During this attack I could not feel ChibiUsa, it was if something was blocking my connection to ChibiUsa."  
  
This conclusion worried the others, what could have blocked the princess's connection to her daughter? "Are you sure that your link was blocked?" Rei asked.  
  
"Hai, unfortunately I am."  
  
"We should then head over to ChibiUsa's school right away then." Ami decided. "There might be some clue to this mystery there. And anyways we should check out this demon battle anyways."  
  
"One question though before we go." Artemis said from where he was sitting on Minako's shoulder. "ChibiUsa's injuries do not match what I would expect from her story."  
  
"Hai you're right, the extent of the damage to her uniform does not match the only minor injuries that she has. And it has been too soon for our Senshi healing to have done that much work." Ami replied in agreement.  
  
Usagi debated with herself if she should mention her suspicion of how ChibiUsa was healed. But realized that if she didn't the others would spend too much time focusing on this issue. "Hotaru must have healed ChibiUsa before she passed out herself."  
  
"Huh?" the others responded.  
  
"Hai, Hotaru healed a skinned knee of mine once before when I first met her. She has a healing power, but it also makes her very tired to use it. I guess she must have not been knocked out and used her power on me. But then the resulting spasm would have knocked her out to lie as I found her when I awoke." ChibiUsa said and to the Senshi's belief solving the issue.  
  
"Hmm… a powerful healer…" Luna began, but was cut off by Usagi.  
  
"We are not going to get Hotaru involved. I am not going to risk her getting hurt by involving her in our battles. She will stay out of this and none of you are to approach her, understood?" she asked.  
  
Nodding their heads, the others accepted Usagi's decision. They knew how much she valued the life and safety of everyone else and knew that she would rather bear the horrible pain of future injury or even loss than to potentially get an innocent involved in their battles.  
  
Leaving money on the table for their bill, the Senshi left to visit the school.  
  
* * *  
  
In a flash of magic Ail and Ann arrived back in their apartment. Her energy levels low and the pain of the burns calling to her, Ann wanted to do nothing more than to fall to the ground and sleep. However, she knew that if she did that then her love would not survive the night. He was alive, but only barely. She had to get him to the tree and just hope that it was not too late.  
  
Struggling under his weight, her strength fading fast, she made her way into the Tree Room. Placing him against one of the tree's massive roots she watched as some of the tree's vines began to wrap themselves around its injured child. I only hope that the tree has enough energy to save him. Back during those first days we were here, the tree had blossomed for the first time that I can remember. But now it does not look much better than Ail. And what if in healing Ail it uses up all its energy? I need to find new energy to feed it and fast, otherwise both of them might die.  
  
* * *  
  
"umm…" was all that Sailor Jupiter could say as words failed her. "A pair of demons did all this?" she finally managed to ask.  
  
"That is what ChibiUsa said." Replied Venus.  
  
"Actually I think that very little of this resulted from the droid and Cardian fighting. Considering that the majority of the blasts is scattered across the area with nothing between them, they would have to have been caused by Rubeus and the two aliens teleporting around." corrected the always analytical Ami.  
  
For a moment, Makoto was going to object about the damage being intermittent, since the entire area looked toasted to her. But then after looking more closely, she did have to admit that Ami was correct.  
  
Rei for her part had stayed out of the analysis, focusing instead on her friend. She had not even heard any of the current conversation, as she was no longer down on the ground with others. Instead, she had followed Usagi and ChibiUsa up to one of the building tops. Usagi had been unable to look at the devastation for more than a few moments and now she stood up here with her back to the school holding ChibiUsa in her arms, while Rei stood next to her and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.  
  
ChibiUsa likewise had not fared well upon returning to the site of the attack. During the battle, ChibiUsa had been more afraid for the safety of her friend, she herself was after all a Sailor Senshi. But that was before she got knocked out by a near miss and learned that the Sailor Senshi did not come, that something was blocking her connection to her mother. She now realized how easily the outcome could have been vastly different. She was just lucky it ended before a stray shot found her.  
  
While Rei watched the mother and daughter find solace in each other, she realized that she should have expected this reaction that they should have had Usagi and ChibiUsa remain at the arcade. In actuality, the only one who needed to be here was Ami-chan, and possibly the cats. Being here was just hurting Usagi and ChibiUsa. However, she also realized that Usagi needed the closure of seeing the battle site. If they had left her, Usagi would have just followed them here on her own.  
  
Hearing another pair of footsteps hitting the rooftop, Rei looked up to see Tuxedo-Kamen arrive. "There was a battle today at ChibiUsa's school between Rubeus and the aliens controlling those Cardians. ChibiUsa got pretty banged up during the battle, however something prevented Usagi from knowing about it." Rei said before Mamoru could ask any questions. She had a feeling that he had felt Usagi's sorrow through his own bond with her.  
  
Letting Mamoru take over in providing the comfort that his future wife and child needed, Rei decided to return to see how the others were doing. Dropping back down to street level and then walking over, Rei for the first time really took notice of the damage. Wow, I am glad that ChibiUsa made it out of here okay. It is a good thing that her friend Hotaru healed her; Usagi would have lost it if she had seen ChibiUsa in the shape that this battle had to have left her.  
  
Something does not feel right here. Rei began to realize as she reached the others.  
  
"Mars what's wrong?" Luna asked noticing that Sailor Mars did not look quite right.  
  
"I don't know, there is just something about this place that does not feel right. I am not sure what it is, but something else happened here then just a simple battle between Rubeus and the two aliens."  
  
"She may be right." Mercury said looking up from her computer. "The readings that I am getting are quite strange. There was a massive build up of dark energy and then nothing. There are no other energy signatures from after then."  
  
"Another enemy?" Venus asked  
  
"I don't know, but it looks like that may be the case." Mercury replied.  
  
"Just wonderful." an annoyed Makoto said as she punched a fist into her hand.  
  
"Your thoughts Rei?" Luna asked.  
  
"I don't know, I will have to do a fire reading later on what I am sensing here." Rei replied, while thinking to herself, however, I don't have a good feeling about where this is going to go. "I suggest, though, that we wait to till after I have done my fire reading to tell Usagi about this possible new threat. She doesn't need to learn that ChibiUsa was in even more danger right now."  
  
"Hai." the others agreed.  
  
* * *  
  
The apparent paradoxes in studying black holes with their quantum and relativity effects give headaches to all but the most learned physicists. An object falling across an event horizon crosses it in both an instant and infinite time depending on your frame of reference. In addition, an object that is so massive that not even light can escape still emits radiation and looses mass. However, all these paradoxes are easily explained if you study the theory or are a genius like Hawking.  
  
Unfortunately, add in the manifestation of travel through the fourth dimension, which is the time-stream and these neat little theories suddenly become inadequate. For instance how can an event at one time destabilize a black hole from a different time that is not even located within parsecs of the event at the time of destabilization. Pluto is probably the only being that could really understand and explain how all the threads and streams of time match up. Unfortunately, the original time disruption still occupies her full attention and this new paradox did occur.  
  
End Notes:  
  
While I generally don't like cliffhanger endings for chapters, unless it is a multipart chapter that for convenience sake is broken into segments, I am not above leaving an enigmatic teaser at the end. Something to get your mind thinking about.  
  
Comet Moon gets credit for the coming up with the idea of a droid Cardian battle. Though, I had originally envisioned it being a humorous battle however the muses had different ideas for how it would play out. And instead, you got Hotaru coming close to laying waste to Tokyo.  
  
And yes that first scene in this chapter was a homage to J. K. Rowling and the world she created with Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. (and yes I am using the correct British title, since I am into alchemy and the Philosopher's Stone is an actual item of myth. And it really is supposed to be red when correctly prepared, though for kinetic reasons it should be a powder and not a large stone. The higher surface area of a powder makes it a much more effective catalyst for the transmutation of base metals to gold. Time to end my rambling as a Chemical Engineer). There is a possibility of a side story involving Hogwarts and Harry Potter, however like everything that is for the future after I have finished this book (anyways it would take place after this book).  
  
The next chapter should hopefully be out by the end of May, I am trying to get them out once a month now. However, that may change this summer. Being an unemployed Chemical Engineer is making me stir crazy (having essentially no experience makes it hard to find a new job). Consequently I am thinking of working at my scout camp for the summer as a break from being unemployed and then in the fall refreshed to begin looking for employment anew when the college hiring season is in full bloom. What does this mean to you my readers? Not much, other than if I do go to work for the scout camp, I will not have access to a computer for the summer, and so there won't be any updates till the fall. However, not to worry I will leave at least a heads up on my web page before I vanish. But unfortunately, it looks like it may be even longer before I finish this mammoth story.  
  
On my request for help finding those two stories last time, thanks are in order for Matthew who ID'd the Tenchi Fic as "Strange Days" by Horosha And and to Bekah for ID'ing the Sailor Moon fic as "Empire of the Sun" by Sophia Prester. I recommend everyone read those as well as "Sailor Moon Millenials" by the Judge (though this one is only on MoonRomance.com).  
  
For those who like to be alerted to when I post new chapters, I have created a yahoo group for that. Just go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FOTupdates and register or send an email to this address: FOTupdates-subscribe@yahoogroups.com 


	27. A Spider in the Web

The Fragility of Time  
BOOK TWO: "Falling Towards Apotheosis"  
Chapter 26 "A Spider in the Web"  
Author: etj4Eagle  
Email: etj4Eagle@yahoo.com  
http://www.geocities.com/etj4eagle  
Lasted Edited: 9/27/02

Disclaimer: A reminder I own none of the characters of this story, all rights are owned by others. However, the unique circumstances of the story are mine. If you distribute the story, do only so freely and inform me of where you post it.

* * *

Chapter 27: "A Spider in the Web" 

Dieing fires lit the landscape of rubble. Ash and smoke hung heavy in the air and in reflecting the light of the fire, cast a red glow over everything. The ground seemed to be a lunar landscape of craters everywhere, running into each other, and even smaller craters dotting the bigger ones. No structure more than a few feet high remained standing, instead all that remained of them was burning rubble. Hotaru could only vaguely recognize that the building in front of her was once her school. A light breeze blew through the school grounds, carrying the stench of death.

While it was close by, the sound of fighting seemed distant to her. Movement catching her eyes, she turned to watch as a teacher led the remains of her class in an attempted run for safety. However, they had gone but a few meters when a stray shot hit the group. Not waiting for the smoke to clear, Hotaru carefully picked her way towards them. When she got there, she did not need to check for a pulse to see if they were still alive, it was obvious that they weren't. Some of them lay on the ground with their bodies contorted at odd angles, others were missing limbs, and still others had their skin blackened from third degree energy burns. 

"Magnificent isn't it?" came a voice from behind. Turning, Hotaru looked up at the school. There above what remained of the main entrance, sitting with legs hanging over the edge she found the owner of the voice. Through the smoke and haze, she could not make out more than a silhouette of what appeared to be a young woman.

Seeing that Hotaru had not answered, the figure continued. "It is quite magnificent, the end of a chapter. I always find times like this very invigorating. Its just a shame that it sometimes takes so long for the end to come."

"Who are you?" Hotaru asked, trepidation in her voice.

"Why you of course." Replied the mysterious figure as she jumped down to ground level. "Embrace me and we can remodel this world into a magnificent place. Just think of the fun we will have with all the toys humanity has built for us."

"IIE!!!" cried Hotaru as she hastily backed away from this doppelganger. "I am not a murder, I am a healer."

"Who said anything about murdering? This was all done by others, I just came to watch and enjoy the show." The doppelganger replied as she walked towards Hotaru, holding out her hand.

Seeing this figure advance on her, Hotaru tried to back away. But she found that she could not break away from the eyes of this other her. She could feel the cold "evil" that consumed this other being and did not want any part of it. However, she felt her will breaking, as the other slowly closed the gap.

The doppelganger now only inches away, Hotaru could feel the two of them beginning to become one with the other in control. But then a weak cry of pain broke her free from the trance. Turning and running away from the doppelganger, she headed towards where she thought the cry had come from. There she found a teacher that she recognized from one of the younger grades. Kneeling down, she placed her hands over the teacher and began to channel her healing energy. 

If Hotaru had hoped that breaking out of the trance might have phased the doppelganger, it didn't. The other Hotaru just walked over to where she was treating the teacher, still at the same slow pace.

"You know it won't make any difference, you can't heal them all. Anyways you'll tire yourself out before you heal more than three of them. Face it they are part of the end of this chapter. Let them go."

"Iie, I will not. I will heal them, till I can no longer, and then I will save some more." Hotaru called out as she attempted to control the spasms that were starting to rack her body.

"Silly child. And what would you do, in a case like this?" the other asked, as suddenly the schoolyard became a devastated city. 

Standing back up on her feet, the teacher gone, Hotaru looked around, for as far as the eye could see, buildings lay in rumble. The sound of battle drew her attention and she investigated. Turning a corner, she quickly pulled back as two soldiers were riddled with bullets.

Calming her racing heart, she stepped back around that corner to continue her investigation, somehow knowing that nothing could hurt her, that this was all just a vision of some sort. This time she came upon a group of huddling civilians. She could see the fear in their eyes, and the wounds that they tried to nurse. The room that she was in suddenly shook violently, sending many of them to the ground. And then with a large explosion, the door was blown open and soldiers poured in. What happened next, turned her heart cold and if she could, she would have turned away and lost her dinner. But something prevented her from doing that, and instead forced her to watch as these soldiers butchered the unarmed civilians.

A short time later, she found herself wandering the streets of the city again. She wondered where she was, as she only vaguely found the uniforms of the defenders familiar, and did not find those of the attackers familiar at all. Looking up into the sky, she saw a blue and green planet hanging in the air and realized that she was on the moon. _The Moon?_ she thought, but another battle prevented her from pondering this anymore.

This time she found the Sailor Senshi themselves facing some kind of demon and loosing badly. Within moments of coming upon the battle, the blue-haired warrior was blown into a column, with a gaping hole in her chest. Hotaru then saw the orange-outfitted warrior loose part of her arm in a close in attack. _What evil is this, killing with ease the Sailor Senshi and butchering civilians?_

"So do you think you can save all the people this time little Firefly? Millions will die today. The demon you see before you will slaughter every living being on dozens of different worlds. Tell me what do you feel?"

Hotaru did not want to answer the question for as the other asked the question; she suddenly realized that she felt something that she did not want to feel. Some part of her soul felt jubilation at this utter destruction and what's more even anticipation. And she could feel a growing desire to do something, to destroy everything. To destroy both good and bad, for why only settle for destroying half?

"I thought so." The other replied. "You may try to hide your desires by pretty words, to pretend you are not who you are. But you are the bringer of destruction, the manifestation of the Silence. Tell me, is what you want to do this?"

The final question was asked as suddenly a wave of energy blasted through the area, erasing everything that it touched. Nothing but the dead surface of the moon was left in its wake.

"IIE!!!" Hotaru cried out in horror. But it was only her conscious mind that was revolted, for her soul was reveling in the passing of the Silence.

* * *

"Hotaru! Wake up! Hotaru! Wake up! Its only a dream!" Eudial urgently tried to command the child in a voice that was just barely below a yell. She had lost track of how many of these nightmares Hotaru had had this night. But it seemed that whenever the child fell back asleep, she would fall victim to another nightmare. After the second nightmare, she had decided to spend the night here beside the child, so that her father could get some sleep.

What she saw disturbed her greatly, as Hotaru would only get a few minutes of calm sleep before she would begin to toss and turn again. She tried to wake Hotaru up from the nightmares, but rarely was she able to get the child to awake before she awoke herself fifteen minutes after the nightmare started. Which meant that even in those cases where she had been able to awaken Hotaru, the nightmare had pretty much run its full course and Hotaru still awoke deathly frightened.

Eudial seeing Hotaru awake with wild eyes pulled the child into a hug waiting for the young girl to recover and return to her senses. As Hotaru's breathing slowed, the child said, "I'm okay now Eudial-san. Arigatoo for being here. It is the same dream as every other time."

"Here have some water." Eudial said as she handed the other girl a water bottle. A bottle, which Hotaru greedily accepted, drenched as she was in her own sweat. Then excusing herself, Hotaru got up from her bed to use the bathroom. As she returned, her eyes caught sight of a torn stuffed bunny sitting on her desk.

Walking over, she picked up one half of the pink bunny rabbit while whispering "ChibiUsa", a small tear forming in her eye for what she had done to a gift from her best friend. A few days ago at the arcade, ChibiUsa had managed to win a pair of stuffed bunnies in one of the games. Keeping one of the bunnies for herself, she had given the other to Hotaru as a gift. Hotaru had felt so happy when she had gotten the gift, but now she had ruined it. Since the day she brought home the bunny, she had slept with it every night. And tonight had been no different, unfortunately when she awoke from her first nightmare, she awoke to find that she held one half of the bunny in each of her hands. Without realizing it, she had destroyed a symbol of her friendship with ChibiUsa, which had given Eudial and her father another issue to deal with when they comforted her the first time.

Eudial had promised to sew it back together for her in the morning. But in looking at it, Hotaru decided that she could not wait. Turning on some of her many lamps, she began rummaging through her desk drawers. Finding some string, she tied a set of bandages around the bunny to hold the two sides together. It did not matter that it looked awful, or that it probably would not hold through the night. She just needed it to semi-hold as she fell back asleep this time. Something told her this time she would not face any more nightmares

Returning to her bed, Hotaru let Eudial tuck her in again. Eudial looked at the child a bit odd, when she saw that Hotaru was bringing the damaged rabbit back to bed with her. _Well I guess she needs every bit of comfort to escape these nightmares. However, I just hope that she doesn't have anymore, as I know what she is capable of when the need to destroy consumes her. And from what Hotaru managed to remember from her dream, it would seem that her tendency to blackout and wreck things is joining with today's real nightmare to haunt her. It's a good thing that Kaolinite is not here tonight._

That final thought caused Eudial to shudder knowing how Kaolinite regarded the child with barely more respect than a lab rat. Eudial for some reason just had a bad feeling that tonight would have been the breaking point for Hotaru if that witch had been here. And Witches 5 would be down one member before they even began any of their missions.

Sitting on the bed beside the child, Eudial watched as Hotaru this time finally was able to fall off into a dreamless slumber. Hotaru's body remained still, with the gentle rise and fall of her chest being the only movement. As the first anxious minutes finally became an hour, it became apparent that the night terrors were finally over for now. Getting up, Eudial left to head off to sleep herself, even though she was only going to be getting but a few hours of sleep.

Another set of eyes had been watching Hotaru this evening. Unfortunately, the second set could not come in to provide the comfort that was needed. Instead, Diana had waited outside on the windowsill, wanting to go in and help her charge's friend every time one of those night terrors hit. Now with the child finally resting peacefully, she sent a silent prayer of thanks to the spirit of Queen Serenity for listening to her plea to help Hotaru.

Seeing that the other lady had finally left, and wanting something more comfortable to sleep on than this windowsill, Diana slipped into the room. Moving quickly to the bed, she climbed up on top. Then finding an opening in Hotaru's embrace of the bunny, she snaked her way in there as well and fell asleep. The sleeping child altered her embraced to hold the kitten more comfortably and fell into an even more peaceful sleep.

* * *

As the night marched along, a lone figure could be seen walking the streets. Of those who had to be out at this hour, only those who had a place to go were normally out. The handful of nighttime wanders that left were those who had a mind to clear and looked for their answers in the solitude of night. 

Pluto fit both descriptions; she did have something to attend to. But she was also looking for answers, something that she was not used to doing. Yes, she never knew exactly the outcomes of her actions and she lost her complete knowledge of time whenever she entered linear time. But never was she so fundamentally unsure of what to do and lost to the eventual outcome of her actions. So tonight, she tried once again to search out those answers while taking a slow roundabout route to her destination.

However, before she could find her answers she had arrived at her destination, the site of the day's battle. Like every other battle that the Senshi engaged in, Pluto always visited the site afterwards looking for clues to the flow of time's river. Walking into the center of the devastation, Pluto let her staff disappear and closed her eyes. Opening herself up to the residual magics, she concentrated.

_Strange, I cannot detect any of the Moon's energies here. No wait there it is very faint. Hmm…even more strange, it is tangled up with another energy._ Focusing in on that energy, Pluto was finally able to see it for itself. _Wait that is not Serenity's energy, but that of Small Lady?_ The shock of realizing that Small Lady appeared to have been the only Senshi here caused Pluto to drop out of her trance. 

_What happened here? Small Lady does not have the power to stop an attack by any of the enemies. But something stopped the battle, something caused Rubeus and the two aliens to retreat. _Insight striking, Pluto decided to look for the one Senshi energy that is by its very nature hidden. 

While normally residue from the use of magic is very easy to see and one can readily identify the types of magic used, this is not the case with the energy of Saturn. As it is also the energy of the Silence, it is masked to all but the most careful examinations. Looking specifically for the elusive energy of that final planet, Pluto could now see that it had saturated everything here and that even ChibiMoon's energy had been intertwined with it, having absorbed and then redirected the energy of Saturn.

One urgent question immediately rose to mined, did this mean that the Soldier of Silence had awakened? The unfinished state of the battlefield indicated that she hadn't, as if she had there would be nothing but an empty crater here. However, that did not mean that Saturn was not on the verge of awakening and that troubled and scared Pluto. Soon, Saturn's awakening would not be a problem, but as of now, Hotaru would be unable to withstand the siren call of her alter ego. And should Saturn awake before it was time, the soldier that resulted would not be Hotaru with the powers of Saturn, but a cold soldier who traced her birth back to the initial awakening of the Sol System Soldiers and was nothing but the embodiment of the Silence.

With Hotaru erased, Pluto doubted that her Princess would have any choice but to banish Saturn back to dormancy. Saturn would sleep there until summoned by the Guardians of the Outer Planets or the death of the Moon line awoke her. As Sailor Moon was already in her final form, the banishment of Saturn would not pose a problem when Galaxia arrived. But with Saturn asleep, Serenity would never be able to awake to her final destiny and instead the universe itself would die and time would come unraveled.

Seeing everything that there was to see at the battle scene, Pluto turned and walked away, happy to get away from that scene. She had hoped to find comfort in her walk tonight, but instead had only found things to trouble her mind even more. She knew that time had gotten screwed up when she saw the initial results of the temporal explosion. However, she had not fathomed that the results could be so severe that they threatened to destroy the universe itself.

Seeing a passerby who had a tad too much to drink this night, Pluto considered for one of the few times in her immortal life getting drunk. Worrying about the existence of the very universe itself is quite a heavy burden to carry and Pluto did remember back from her previous mortal life how nice it could be to hide in a bottle for a while. Though of course you always had to face the issues later and normally with a nasty headache.

Knowing that that wasn't a viable option, Pluto did the only other thing that she could do to run away from what she did not want to fathom. Gathering her energy together, Pluto teleported home.

Feet crunching in the frozen gases that covered the surface of Pluto, the Spacetime Guardian smiled. She had not been home for a long time and being here at the source of her power was reassuring. Bringing her staff up into the ready position, Pluto began the processing of pushing away her worries by engaging in an endless series of drills.

* * *

Hearing footsteps, Usagi straightened her back and made sure that no one could accuse her of leaning against the wall. Thankfully, the teacher whose footsteps she heard decided not to come down this hall. She was not slouching and she was clearly holding the two pails of water, but with her distracted mind she did not want to risk getting into more trouble should a teacher come by. She had already gotten into trouble once this morning for not paying attention, which was why she was out her till the end of the lesson holding these buckets of water. She did not see how holding these heavy pales would cause her to pay attention next time, especially since what she was thinking about was far more important than today's lesson.

Unfortunately, Haruna-sensei was not in and this substitute did not understand that she probably had a very good secret excuse nor did today's teacher have Haruna's remarkable tolerance. Thinking about how quickly she had gotten kicked out, Usagi realized that she needed to thank Haruna-sensei for putting up with her all these months, especially before learning her secret.

ChibiUsa had held her attention all morning, specifically worrying about her daughter's current well being. And so, it was that her thoughts fell back in on themselves and she began thinking about this morning again. Like any of the other times that ChibiUsa had gotten hurt in battle, Usagi had not wanted to let go of that child this morning.

Unfortunately, school called. She could always have brought ChibiUsa with her to the Junior High, like she had done in the past. However, this time it was not just her wishes that mattered. Hotaru had also been involved in the day's incident and to Usagi it was much more important to take care of that girl than her own desires. Consequently, ChibiUsa was not with her today, but instead going over to visit the dark haired girl. Classes at the elementary school had been canceled for the next few days while they cleaned up the school.

* * *

Arriving at the front door of the mansion that Hotaru lived in, ChibiUsa went to ring the bell. While to her older "cousin" this house was humongous and impressive, ChibiUsa did not notice, after all back in the future she lived in the Crystal Palace. In her case, the general parent statement of how they had less and had to do more when they were a child was true. Like most kids, she had not believed her parents. It was not till after her previous trip to the past that she accepted that her mom had indeed grown up in a small house without any privileges of royalty.

Unfortunately ringing the bell proved to be a slight problem, as she was too short. Even jumping did not work, as her fingers fell just inches too short. Now if she still had the Luna Ball, she could have used that, but that childhood security blanket had not survived this screwed up trip into the past. Giving up on her attempts to jump, ChibiUsa slouched back against the wall and tried to think of what else to try. Unfortunately, the well-manicured lawn did not have any sticks that she might have used. And any rock sufficiently large enough to be useful would have been too heavy for her to carry.

Now if Diana was here like she was supposed to be, she could have placed the kitten on her head and had her ring the bell. Which did beg the question of where that gray cat was anyways, however, ChibiUsa did not concern herself with that right now.

"That's what I'll do." ChibiUsa said as she finally realized a solution to her problem. Of course, she had better not let Luna or Mars find out what she was about to do or she would get a nice talking to. After checking around to make sure that there was nobody in the area, she pulled out her Moon Wand. Even with its extra reach, she was still too short when standing on the ground. However, by jumping, she was able to get sufficient height and after only a half dozen or so tries she finally managed to ring the doorbell.

Putting the wand back away, she walked away from the door a bit and turned to face it. _Just hope someone now comes, I don't want to have to that all over again._ ChibiUsa thought with a slightly rapid breath from all the jumping.

"May I help you?" asked the stern looking woman who opened the door.

Looking up, ChibiUsa instantly did not like the woman who was there at the door and shivered slightly. Finding that she actually had to gather a little courage to speak, ChibiUsa asked "Is Hotaru here?"

Kaolinite looked down on the child with even more contempt now that it appeared that she was a friend of Hotaru's. "Hotaru is not feeling well. She will not see any visitors, now go on." Kaolinite said as she closed the door.

Saddened by the rejection, ChibiUsa's features dropped and she turned around and began to walk away. Turning her head briefly, as she walked down the steps to look towards Hotaru's room she whispered, "Feel better Hotaru-chan."

Inside the house, Professor Tomoe walked into the front hallway just as Kaolinite finished closing the door. "Who was that?" he asked.

"Just some girl looking for Hotaru, I sent her on her way."

"Did she perhaps have pink hair?" Tomoe asked, remembering that good friend of his daughter. Seeing the affirmative body language, Tomoe walked pass Kaolinite to open the door and called out, "ChibiUsa-chan."

Hearing her name, ChibiUsa turned "Hai?"

"Sorry about that. Hotaru did not sleep well last night due to having many nightmares. However, I think she would enjoy seeing you this morning." He said as he held the door open to her.

"Arigatoo!" ChibiUsa happily replied as she bounced her way back up to the house.

"Would you care for some blueberry pancakes?" Tomoe asked.

Of course, the answer to that for a Usagi is simple, yes, even if they have already had a nice sized breakfast. So, it was no surprise that ChibiUsa happily nodded while thanking him for the offer.

"Why don't you go on up and wake up Hotaru? Her room is the third one on the left. Give me twenty minutes to get breakfast ready."

"Hai." Replied ChibiUsa as she hurried across the front hall to the staircase.

Tomoe for his part could only chuckle at ChibiUsa's behavior, a nice lighthearted chuckle. For the first time in a long time, he finally felt truly happy and content. It was amazing how this new friend of Hotaru made things so much better.

* * *

Heading up to the second floor, ChibiUsa walked down the hallway. Opening the door, she found Hotaru there sleeping in the bed. _Hmm… now how to wake her?_ ChibiUsa wondered, as her only experiences with waking a sleeping person were with Shingo and Usagi and she did not want to use any of those methods on her friend. Standing just inside the doorway, ChibiUsa tried to think of what to do when something that Hotaru was clutching in her sleep caught her eye.

"Diana!?!" exclaimed ChibiUsa as she realized what Hotaru was holding.

"Huh?" a groggy Hotaru mumbled in response as she slowly open her eyes and sat up. Then noticing her visitor, sleep fled the child as she questioned "ChibiUsa-chan? What are you doing here?"

A sleeping Diana had also been awakened by the voice. As her eyes opened and she remembered that she was not in ChibiUsa's room, she realized that she was probably in a bit of trouble. Getting up on her feet she walked over to brush by Hotaru-chan and purr before bounding over to her charge.

"I'm here to see you silly." ChibiUsa replied. And then reaching down to pick up the kitten, "And to fetch my kitten as well. I was wondering where you had gotten off to Diana."

Diana gave an apologetic meow in response.

_Well I had told her to watch of Hotaru-chan last night and I guess this was one way of doing it._ ChibiUsa thought as she petted Diana before putting the kitten up on her head. Then she flung herself onto Hotaru's bed so that the two of them could chat and plan their day's activities. Diana somehow managed to survive that sudden motion and stay on ChibiUsa's head, but only barely.

* * *

With the ringing of the afternoon bell, Usagi happily gathered up her stuff counting herself lucky that the substitute teacher had no desire to hold her over for detention. With her stuff together, she joined Makoto in the hallway and the two left the school together.

"I see you managed to not get kicked out of the classroom this afternoon." Makoto said

"Hai, Luna's visit during lunch calmed my anxiety over ChibiUsa sufficiently. I'm glad that she is spending the day over at Hotaru's and that Hotaru-chan is okay as well after yesterday. Of course that spore won't be going anywhere but my arms tonight."

Makoto nodded her agreement as the two of them continued out of the school and into the street. _Well it does seem that Usagi truly is less anxious, otherwise she wouldn't have used the "spore" nickname for ChibiUsa. Though even still I am surprised that she isn't making a beeline over to Hotaru's house right now._

Usagi promptly answered what Makoto was wondering about by asking a question of her own. "Mako-chan do you have any cookies that I can borrow? Seijuurou-san and Natsumi-san were out sick today, and I thought that bringing them some cookies might make them feel better. However, I know better than to try to make them myself."

Turning her head to look at her silver-haired friend while the two of them continued walking, Makoto chuckled agreeing with Usagi's assessment of any cookies that she might try to make herself. "Of course I have some cookies that you can bring to them, just make sure that they get the cookies."

"Hey!" the silver haired girl replied with mock indignation.

Makoto just smiled at her friend, telling her that she had just been joking and the two friends continued walking.

A little while later, Usagi was giving Makoto her thanks for the cookies as she left the brunette's apartment. "Arigatoo for the cookies Mako-chan. I'm sure that Seijuurou and Natsumi will be back to normal once they have some."

"No problem Usagi, oh and make sure to give Seijuurou-san a get well message from me."

"Sure thing." Usagi said before turning to walk down the hallway to the elevator.

* * *

Not long after that, Usagi found herself in front of apartment that the two siblings lived in. On her trip over from Makoto's, Luna had caught up with her from wherever she had been spending the afternoon. With Luna riding in her usual position on her shoulder, Usagi checked the address she had for the two siblings.

"Well this is the place." Usagi said.

"Are you sure you want to go ahead with this?" Luna asked. "Something does not feel right."

"Luna what are you worried about?" asked a confused Usagi.

"I'm just get bad vibes and all." Replied the cat

Pausing for a moment, Usagi looked around, trying to figure out what might be upsetting her guardian. "Well let's see that grocery store down the street is where Rubeus had one of his operations setup and I believe that we also chased one of Beryl's youmas across the roof here as well. Or did that one turn out to be a droid? But either way its just memories you are feeling Luna. Now come on lets go in."

"Hai, I guess so." Luna reluctantly agreed. _It just feels like something more than those echoes._

As they entered the building and began riding up in the elevator, Luna felt her fur go even more on edge. However, a look at Usagi told her that the other girl was not interested in hearing about anymore of her feelings or vibes. Resigning herself to needing to just be alert and to run to get help at a moments notice she kept quiet.

"So where did you say these two were from." Luna asked trying to ignore her worries.

"America." Usagi replied

"And it is just the two of them brother and sister?"

"Hai. But there is nothing that strange about that, you have Makoto living on her own as well."

Luna wanted to comment further, but they had arrived at the door. So instead Luna thought to herself, _Yeah, but Makoto is a rather unique case. And anyways these two who are on their own just moved across the ocean. That is a bit strange._

In response to Usagi's knocking, Natsumi opened the door. "What do you want?" the other girl asked in a not entirely friendly manner.

"I came to see how you and Seijuurou-san were doing today. And I brought you some of Mako-chan's cookies."

Natsumi wanted to shut the door on Usagi, but the silver-haired girl did not give her the chance. Instead, from one moment to the next she was inside the apartment with Natsumi now holding the tin of cookies.

"Go ahead try one." Usagi insisted.

Strangely feeling compelled to do what this mere human was requesting; Natsumi opened the box and removed one of the cookies. Biting into it, her eyes lip up at its wonderful taste and she could even feel her energy levels perking up a bit. _Well I guess it would be rude to throw her out after bringing us these cookies._ Natsumi thought as she decided that she would tolerate the presence of Tsukino Usagi for little while more. Anyways if Usagi got annoying, she could always use the silver-haired girl as a snack.

"Why don't you go sit down in the living room, while I get us some tea to go with these cookies." Natsumi said, now suddenly glad that her brother had insisted on outfitting their apartment with all the staples of a standard human one.

Later with the tea ready, Natsumi brought it and some of the cookies into the living room. Sitting down with Usagi, the two girls talked about school and other subjects. Usagi learned that Seijuurou had come down with a nasty flue bug, which had him confined to bed. As a result, Natsumi needed to stay home from school to take care of her brother. That then prompted Usagi to remember what Ami had given her when she had learned that Usagi was going to be visiting the two siblings. Ami had gone to all the teachers of Natsumi and Seijuurou and had gotten homework and other material for the next week, so that way at least Natsumi could keep up with her studies.

* * *

Sailor Uranus and Neptune stood a top a warehouse looking out over a light industrial district. They were not hunting Droids or Cardians this afternoon, instead their target was an unassuming mechanic working in one of the warehouses that lay before them.

Turning to her partner, Uranus asked, "You're sure this is place?"

"Hai, this is where the seas tell me we will find the pure heart crystal."

"Well then since that mechanic appears to be the only one here, lets get this over with." And then after looking at her aqua haired friend, she added, "And yes I will remember to be subtle."

Inside the shop, Usaki worked on the engine of an old clunker, trying to bring it back to life for a final fifty thousand miles. The engine was far past its prime, with burnt engine valves and other problems. He had already removed the valves so that he could regrind them, but right now, he was checking to see what parts of the idle control system appeared to be salvageable.

Sensing more than hearing a noise, he looked up from his work. His crew had already left for the day and the shop was closed, however, something told him he was not alone. 

"Who's there?" he called out but got no response.

Giving the garage a looking over he was unable to see anybody. Resigning himself to having had his imagination act up on him, he turned back around to face the car. And it was during that turning that he found himself facing down a yellow ball of energy. So shocked was he, that he failed to see the other attack that came flying offset 30 degrees from the first one.

Feeling a terrible burning pain, the two balls of energy hit him. He could vaguely feel his body being lifted up off the ground before a pain almost like being pulled into two caused him to black out. Unconscious, he fell to the ground a dozen feet from where he had been hit.

Jumping down from atop of some crates, Uranus walked over and picked up the pure heart crystal, which had remained at the impact site. Examining the delicate artifact, she was amazed at its beauty. But upon peering deep into it, she was unable to find any indication that it held a talisman.

Gently tossing it over to Neptune who had stopped to check on their victim, she said, "No good this one does not have a talisman."

Catching the crystal, Neptune examined it as well. "You're right, the waves were only partially correct. This is a Pure Heart Crystal, however the sensation that a talisman existed in this area was falsely place.

"We can only give a silent prayer of remorse for what we had to do here and hope that next time we will find one of the talismans."

Returning the crystal to the unconscious mechanic, the two soldiers watched as his body reabsorbed its energy. Almost immediately, his breathing became easier and his pulse became stronger, while color returned to his body. Seeing that he was going to recover, the two warriors leapt to a window and out into the afternoon.

On the ground Usaki slowly opened his eyes. As he did so, he turned his head slightly to one side and was just able to make out a pair of silhouettes disappearing out of sight, a set of silhouettes that he recognized as belonging to Sailor Senshi. _Well I guess that explains why I am on the ground and why I seem to think that I was hit by some kind of magic attack. Thank the Kami that the Sailor Senshi were here to protect me and defeat whatever evil creature did this._ Picking himself up, Usaki looked over at the clock and decided that tonight he would head home early, he could use a nice break.

* * *

As the afternoon wore on and started to become evening, Usagi realized that she should be heading on home. She still needed to go pick up ChibiUsa before making it home in time for dinner and she did not want to be late for that. Standing up she started to say her thanks to Natsumi for having her over and give her well wishes for Seijuurou-san's fast recovery.

Natsumi stood up as well. However, as she did so, she realized something. During these past few hours with Usagi, she suddenly felt very refreshed as if the tree was blooming again. Yet she knew that was not the case. Looking at her "friend" now with a predator's eye, she realized that Usagi was the source of all this refreshing energy. _Should have realized that her bubbly personality would have made her an ideal subject for feeding our tree. She is just radiating energy everywhere. Hmm… I wonder. I might just be able to get rid of the threat that she poses to my Seijuurou, get that cute Chiba-san and save the tree all in one move._

"Usagi-chan, before you leave there is something that I would like you to see. I am not sure if you know it or not, but Seijuurou is fascinated by plants especially exotic ones. I thought you might like to take a look at his pride and joy."

"Hai, sure." Replied an eager Usagi _He sounds a lot like Mako-chan in that regard, will have to arrange for them to exchange notes._

Usagi followed Natsumi as she led her into one of the other rooms of the apartment. Both Luna and Usagi were a bit taken back by the sickly appearance of the tree that the room contained.

"I know it doesn't look like much now, but before it was a magnificent tree. It has come down with some kind of disease, which is slowly killing it."

"That's terrible." replied Usagi as she entered the room, feeling sorry for Seijuurou to have his pride and joy dying like this.

Luna instead stayed back in the main room, with fur up on end and back arched. The vibes she had been feeling had become orders of magnitude worse when Natsumi had opened that door. Especially since that was no ordinary room, but some kind of magical construct allowing a full sized tree to fit inside of a regular apartment. Something was very wrong here. And unfortunately, she was down on the ground and not up on Usagi's shoulder to tell that girl her concerns. She tried meowing, but the other girl had been too fascinated by the tree.

Instead, Luna remained outside watching helplessly as Usagi proceeded to walk up to the tree. Now with Natsumi between Usagi and the door, the alien smiled and dropped her disguise. 

"I hope you don't take this the wrong way. But your sacrifice will allow my love to live."

Usagi's blood froze as she heard the now different voice, a voice that she recognized as belonging to those aliens who seemed to target children. Turning around to face Ann, she had only made it halfway when a stun spell hit her. Falling to the ground, Usagi managed to avoid blacking out or loosing her glamour spell, but only barely.

Looking up at Ann who was now standing in front of her she forced out one word, "Why?"

"Because we need the life energy of you humans to sustain our tree, without which we will die. Because Ail is on his death bed only barely alive and the strain to heal him is killing the tree even faster. Because killing you will solve everything. Now die Usagi."

The energy that Ann had just drained from Usagi in stunning her, Ann gave to the tree giving it a little strength back. She could have drained Usagi herself, but that would have been slow and inefficient, instead she choose to have the tree do it itself. The roots nearest Usagi suddenly began to move and grow, rapidly extending in length and looking very much like vines. These "vines" as they grew curled around the silver haired girl holding her tight and lifted her up into the air.

Usagi tried to free herself from her bindings, but the roots held her too tight. As she felt herself being lifted up into the air, she tried to think of something to do. Realizing that her only option was to fight as Sailor Moon, Usagi prepared to henshin to her warrior form. However, before she got the chance, pain shot through her body as the tree began draining her life force causing her to cry out. Recovering from that initial shock of pain, she tried once again to call upon her powers. But found to her horror, that the energy drain was preventing the concentration required for casting any spell.

As soon as Ann had revealed herself, Luna had turned tail and made a mad dash to escape from the apartment, knowing that she had to get help fast. She was unable to open the apartment's door, so she instead headed towards the window. As soon as she rounded the corner out of earshot of Ann, she activated the communicator that was part of her new collar to call for help. 

"Minna-san, Ginga Seijuurou-san and Ginga Natsumi-san are the aliens and they have Usagi and are draining all of her energy. Hurry."

As she approached the window, she slowed down not sure of what to do now. However, the explosion of the walls of the building solved that. Being thrust out into the open air above the street, Luna saw her life flash before her eyes. Thankfully, as she was flying out she saw one of the tree's roots beside her and twisted her body so that she could clamp onto it with her claws. Saved, she was now able to climb down the side of the apartment on the various roots of the tree.

As she reached the bottom of the building, Sailor Venus with Artemis in tow arrived. Not long after that, Jupiter and Mars also arrived. "Anyone got some weed killer Venus remarked when she saw what had happened to the building."

"Where are the others?" asked Luna.

"I don't know, though I guess Ami-chan is trying to find a polite way to get out of her cram class." Jupiter replied.

"I say we start roasting this weed." Suggested an impatient Mars.

The rest of the group was equally ancy about waiting any longer. They knew they would be strongest if they went in as full team, but this was their princess's life they were talking about. All eyes turned towards Venus, awaiting her decision.

"Luna which apartment is Usagi in?" asked Venus.

That one on the seventh floor, Luna said as she pointed one of them out. Following Luna's paw, Venus looked up and began to formulate a plan. "We can't afford to wait around for the others as they are already draining Usagi's life. Since we don't have Mercury here to guide us through the jungle that has now become this building, we are going to climb up the outside. Luna will lead the way."

"Hai!" the others all agreed as they took off for the building, each one leaping up to grab a hold of the tree somewhere around the fourth floor. Luna and Artemis both hitched a ride on Venus. Once the blonde leader had secured herself to the tree, the two of them climbed up off of her and onto the tree. Venus cringed a bit as their claws dug into her skin as they were climbing across her.

* * *

Inside the apartment, Ann watched in fascination as energy visibly pulsed from Usagi down into the Tree. The result of the feeding was nearly instantaneous as the Tree suddenly started growing; rapidly increasing from its miniature size to one that took over the entire building. The top of the tree remained contained by the magic of the room, but its roots broke through the floor and walls encased the building.

Then things got even better as Usagi began shimmering. When the shimmering finished a golden crescent moon was clearly visible on the other girl's forehead and wings had burst out the back of her school uniform. She might not have been wearing her traditional battle fuku, but Ann instantly recognized the thorn in all their plans.

Walking up to the Moon Warrior who was still somehow conscious she said, "How fitting that it is your life Sailor Moon that will save us. You have hindered our efforts to survive here on this planet from the day we arrived, but no more."

Hearing a noise from behind her, Ann turned to see that a now recovered Ail was up. "What is going on here?" he asked.

"Why nothing more than the solution to all our problems. Sailor Moon is graciously giving us her life. It looks like that energy has already succeeded in healing you from the poisonous effects of that Rubeus fellow's attacks last night. And now she is giving the rest of her energy to the Tree."

Taking to the air to get a closer look at Sailor Moon, he roughly grabbed a hold of her chin. Smiling, he said, "Yes love, I think you have found the solution to our problems."

A sudden fireball caused him to quickly release Usagi's chin and fly backwards to avoid being incinerated. Turning he and Ann regarded the intruders.

"So nice of you to show up Sailor Senshi. You get front row seats for the death of Sailor Moon." Ann said as she silently instructed the tree to turn Sailor Moon so that the other girls could get a full view of her.

"Sailor Moon!" "Usagi!" "You bastard!" the Senshi and cats screamed out.

Rage consuming her, Mars could think of nothing other than freeing her best friend and with a fireball in her right hand she charged forward towards Ail.

Unfortunately for her, she did not get more than a few feet before Ann blasted her in her chest. Landing back in front of Venus and Jupiter, she picked herself up, ignoring the hurt.

"Now lets try this again, but as a team this time." Venus said. "Oh and please try to avoid hitting Usagi. I have no idea what the reaction would be, but after that tunnel incident I have no inclination to find out." The others nodded their heads in agreement, not wanting to have another repeat of that situation. 

"Dead Scream" called out a soft voice and a violet ball of energy slammed into Ail knocking him out of the air. "I am the Soldier of Revolution, I am Sailor Pluto." Pluto announced as she stepped out of the shadows. "And for this attack on our princess, I will punish you." She said while staring at the two aliens coldly.

From elsewhere on the sidelines three roses flew out aiming for the vines that bound Usagi. "Friendship is not something to be taken advantage of. And for that I will face you as well." Tuxedo-Kamen said.

If Tuxedo-Kamen and the Senshi had expected the roses to have their normal effect and release Usagi, they were sorely disappointed this time. Instead of damaging the vine-like tree roots, they instead crumpled to dust.

"Well so much for the easy way." Jupiter remarked, before smacking her hands together. Retaking her fighting stance, she released a Sparkling Wide Pressure at their foes. Knowing that this would not be an easy battle, she immediately jumped to a new location to prepare a follow up attack.

Venus and Mars proceeded likewise unleashing their own attacks before moving to secure better ground. Pluto eyed the beginning battle carefully as she used her staff to deflect an attack. As the Time Guardian, Pluto knew how this battle was supposed to resolve itself in the correct timeline. Unfortunately, that knowledge did not comfort her; instead, it worried her quite a bit. The only satisfactory end for the battle would come when the Tree in front of them awoke. Unfortunately, that required practically killing Usagi and killing the alien Ail. The razor of margin was so thin, that this time around, her princess could be killed for real and the two aliens remain unsaved.

As Pluto jumped out of the way of an attack, Jupiter moved in close on Ail who was currently being distracted by Mars. Deciding for the simple satisfaction inherent in a basic punch, Jupiter's fist connected with Ail's stomach. Moving quickly to take advantage of the situation, she then proceeded to give him a high kick in the head. Unfortunately she had not taken stock of the situation with Ann before committing herself to the kick, so as she straightened her body out her eyes widened in horror as a blast of energy was flung her way. Unable to dodge, Jupiter was knocked over and collapsed in pain.

Ann walked over to blast the downed Jupiter with another attack. However, thankfully for Jupiter she was forced to teleport out of the way when Pluto unleashed another one of her attacks, giving Jupiter the time that she needed to return to her feet. Retaking stock of the scene, the brunette realized that Ail appeared to be back at full strength and was now in combat with Venus. Mars lay on the ground unconscious with Tuxedo-Kamen checking on her. _Not good, not good._ Jupiter thought to herself as she realized that they were going to loose this battle unless something happened. And she unfortunately did not feel that the arrival of the rest of the team was sufficient.

Ail was also coming to the same conclusion and decided to brag about it to the warriors arrayed before him. "You do realize this fight of yours in useless? Your power is no match for ours, especially now that Sailor Moon is supporting us." The last bit he said as he gestured towards where Sailor Moon was held. As the Senshi looked at their leader they realized that while the aliens may have been no worse for wear, Usagi looked like hell. "Now be good Senshi and die."

The present warriors all braced themselves for the attack that followed his final words. Even still, the power of it overwhelmed them and they were flung backwards like rags dolls. Hitting the ground hard, Mars, Jupiter, and Venus collapsed, unable to stand back up. While Pluto was able to return to her feet, she found that she needed to use her staff to help stabilize her footing. 

She could still attempt an attack and desperately wanted to continue fighting. But with the instability of the time flow she knew that she could not take the risk that she would not still be at the gate should she die. It was the reason why she was having Q watch the gate in the first place. She had to instead be prepared to return there herself at a moments notice to slam shut the Gates of Time, which would then give her the time she needed to awake Saturn with the power of the Grail to end everything. So instead of standing, Pluto let herself appear to be too weak and collapsed back down to her knees, staff on the ground and lowered her head. And just prayed with all her heart that her princess would be okay.

Of the group, only Tuxedo-Kamen had managed to avoid getting hit by Ail's attack, having been able to leap out of the way in time. He had found a safe spot for the moment on top of the tree. Taking advantage of the few moments before the enemy realized that he was not unconscious on the ground he surveyed the scene and he too came to the realization that these aliens were proving to be too powerful for them. From his connection with Usagi, he also knew that they did not have much time left, maybe only minutes. They needed Mercury here and fast so that they could find a weakness to exploit.

"Shabon Spray!" a voice called out answering his thoughts as the room was plunged into foggy obscurity.

"Sorry we're late" came the somewhat cheerful voice of the blonde haired member of the Calvary. However, when her eyes caught site of Usagi her mood turned black. Not even wasting time forming her expletives into coherent words, she unleashed a World Shaking and headed off towards the nearest alien.

His mood uplifted by the arrival of the others, Tuxedo-Kamen dropped to the ground. Removing his cane from his cape, he headed for Ail. His plan was simple, keep Ail busy long enough for Mercury to find the solution to their problem while Uranus kept the other one busy. 

Joining in the battle as well, Neptune decided to assist her partner in pummeling Ann. Of the first four Senshi on the scene, only Pluto was able to quickly return to her feet and rejoin the battle, having decided that with reinforcements having arrived that she would risk fighting for a little while longer. She ignored the shooting pain in her right ankle and moved to help Tuxedo-Kamen. Mars, Venus and Jupiter returned to their feet as well, though a bit more slowly and with aching bodies. Back up on their feet they moved to spread out so that they could assist the others.

From where she had first unleashed her Shabon Spray at the entrance to the room, Mercury stood with her visor deployed and computer out scanning the tree, the room, the aliens, and Usagi. Thankfully, the others were able to maintain the full attention of the two aliens, as she was oblivious to her surroundings, utterly focused as she was on her readings. Though, Luna and Artemis sitting on each of her shoulders kept their eyes on what was happening for her. The data she was recording and the conclusions that she was drawing caused Mercury to frown more and more with each passing moment.

Her concentration was suddenly broken when both Luna and Artemis suddenly began screaming her name. Looking up from her readings, her eyes went wide as she saw a massive attack begin to radiate out in all directions from Ail. Dropping her palm sized computer, Mercury reached up to pick the two cats of her shoulders and to cradle them in her arms as she spun around and prepared to jump out of the way. Unfortunately, she only managed to spin before she was sent flying.

Landing on top of a knocked over couch in the living room, Mercury felt her world spinning. Shaking her head to clear the stars that had taken up residence there after her body had punched a hole through the wall between this room and the previous one, Mercury looked down and saw that the two cats were thankfully okay. Releasing them, she stood back up on her feet and tried to remember what it was that she had just realized before being turned into a human dart.

Looking back into the room with the Tree, she saw that only Uranus and Neptune had managed to return to their feet. She watched as those two warriors who were now really pissed off at the aliens unleash another set of attacks. Watching the energy spheres fly towards Ail and Ann, Mercury suddenly remember what it was that she had concluded.

Even though it was too late, Mercury still called out, "Wait! Don't attack them!"  

Confused Uranus and Neptune stared questionably at Mercury as if she had taken one too many bumps from her flight through the wall. Hoping to convince them that she was not insane, Mercury explained, "Their life forces are connected to Sailor Moon's. We aren't hurting them, only Sailor Moon."

That pronouncement caused all the Senshi to gasp in horror over what they had been doing to their princess and Neptune and Uranus to grimace as both of their attacks found their targets. Spheres of energy slamming into them, Ail and Ann were thrown to the ground. And, like all the previous times they quickly returned to their feet fully recovered. 

However, this time something was different. This time as Ail and Ann drew energy from the tree to heal their wounds, Usagi screamed out in shear pain. A scream that ended with her body giving up the final gasp of energy that it had to give. Her head fell to her chest and rolled slightly to one side as her eyes became vacant and all her muscles stilled and relaxed.

For the Tree, drinking the life force of Usagi had been an intoxicating experience. Not only was her energy so sweat and wonderful, it now suddenly had an abundant source of energy after centuries of barely being alive. Those two factors had joined together to ensure that the effect of absorbing Usagi's life force had been like a strong narcotic. Of course, the energy frenzy that was this battle between its children and the Sailor Senshi made the intoxicating effects even more pronounced.

Consequently, when the draw from its food source suddenly dwindled to nothing, the withdrawal drove it insane. It wanted, it needed another source of such sweat energy to drain completely and it needed it now. Observing its surroundings it located the closest life form and then struck out with one of its roots.

Tuxedo-kamen had collapsed to the ground when he felt the life force of Usagi vanish. He did not scream, only softly muttered "No!" as his spirit fled and he fell to his knees. The others upon seeing this instantly realized what this meant as well. Only Pluto knew that Usagi was not yet dead. But the next minute would tell if the princess would be saved or if everything had failed.

The apparent death of Usagi had even drawn the attention of Ail and Ann as they suddenly felt the energy they were drawing on drop off. Ail was in mid-turn to look at their victim when something suddenly shot towards him. Doubling over and flying backwards, his eyes opened in shock and pain as he realized that a root of the Tree now protruded through his stomach. He did not have time to even question why, before darkness consumed him.

"IIEEEEEEEEEE!" screamed Ann as she saw her love killed. Moving to be able to hold him, thoughts of defeating the Senshi fled her mind. Her world was now composed entirely of the dead body of her love and trying to understand why the Tree had done it.

Even the Senshi stared in shock at what had happened. And then to their astonished eyes it appeared that the tree was in shock as well, for it had suddenly released their leader and the root skewering Ail had dropped down to the ground.

From where she had pulled herself back up to her feet, Pluto smiled; things were going to work out. The battle was more violent than it should have been. But the aliens were going to be saved. Now without the dread of failing her one mission, Pluto was able to relax. Unfortunately that meant she was now able to notice that her ankle was completely busted. With the smile still on her face, Pluto let shock consume her and passed out.

The Senshi had been right in their assessment of the tree being in shock for to their startled ears it began to speak, telling them of its history and that of its children. The Senshi learned that Ail and Ann were wartime orphans desperately looking for the energy they needed to survive, never realizing that all they needed to keep their Life Tree healthy was sunlight, water, and their love. But now that Usagi's sacrifice had awakened it, it could watch over them as a parent should. Miraculously as the tree removed its root from Ail's chest the wound healed and life returned to his eyes. However, it expressed its sorrow that it could not do the same the girl that it had held in its clutches.

Having retrieved her computer, Mercury walked over to where Usagi now lay in Tuxedo-kamen's arms. Only Neptune and Uranus were in sufficiently good shape to crowd around, the rest lay were they had fallen. Scanning Usagi, Mercury's spirits rose as she detected a slight hint of life force left in their leader.

"She's alive!" Mercury happily called out. "I don't know how, she should have been fully drained. But it is there, a faint trace."

That news perked everyone up, now the only question came to be how to revive her and to keep that faint trace from fading. The answer came from the Tree.

"Endymion." Called out the Tree. Turning, Tuxedo-Kamen looked at the sentient tree. "I know of your connection to this planet. In taking Serenity's energy, her memories became mine as well." The Tree explained. "I can feel that you have an unawakened healing power, place one of your hands on my root and the other on Serenity and I may be able to help you."

Not exactly sure what this Tree was getting to, Tuxedo-Kamen followed along anyways. Placing his left hand on the large root that had just grown over to where he sat he placed his other hand on Usagi's chest and waited.

"Now open yourself to the energy of your planet."

Not sure exactly of what to do, Tuxedo-Kamen still never the less tried to do as instructed. Calming his breathing, he tuned out his normal senses and strained to feel something. At first, he did not feel anything, but then there was a slight warmth under his left hand. The warmth grew and he realized that he knew that a tree should always feel like that. Focusing on that energy, he let it flow into his body, up one arm and then down the other into Usagi. There he was able to find her life force and direct this new energy at it, strengthening it. Feeling Usagi begin to recover, he was confused when the energy source suddenly stopped. Opening his eyes, he looked towards the tree confused.

"Yes, Serenity still needs much more of my energy to recover. However, you are too much of a novice at this and are not using the energy I am giving you efficiently. You were able though to give her enough to awaken."

As the Tree said this, Usagi's eyes opened. Looking up into Tuxedo-Kamen's eyes, she whispered "Mamo-chan" and smiled contently.

"Serenity, do you know who I am?" the Tree asked.

Turning her head slightly Usagi looked at the tree and nodded, having absorbed the Tree's memories as well during their joining.

"Then I have one request to ask of you. I have been tainted by endless dark energy from the wars that consumed my children. It has left me weak and old before my time. Could you use your power to cleanse me of the darkness?"

"Hai," replied Usagi as Tuxedo-Kamen helped her to her feet. Unable to stand on her own, she relied on his support as she revealed her crystal. She ignored the gasps and worried concerns expressed by the others as she prepared to use it. She knew that she was barely alive and that energy required in using the crystal was probably more than she had left, but that did not worry her. Saving these three was far more important than her own life.

Letting the limited energy build, Usagi mentally called the crystal to life as she began to feed it her energy. Then with a final smile to her friends she cast her healing spell. Energy radiated out from the crystal embracing both the tree and the aliens healing them of any darkness. With the darkness gone, she felt her control over the crystal begin to falter as it became progressively harder to keep her eyes open, but then suddenly she felt a backwash of energy. Strength returned to her body as energy flowed out of the Tree and into the crystal. From there some of it was flowing into her body revitalizing her while the rest bubbled out to embrace everything else that had felt that afternoon's destruction.

When the blinding light of the crystal finally died down and everyone was able to see again, Usagi was left standing. However, instead of her ripped school uniform she now wore her princess dress with her wings majestically spread out behind her body. Pulling her wings in, she looked around and noticed that everyone else looked in far better shape.

"Umm where did the tree go?" Venus asked.

"Good going Odango-Atama, you were supposed to heal it, not kill it." Mars said as she realized as well that the Tree was no longer there.

"Actually it is still here." Ann said as she walked forward and picked up a small sapling. "Usagi has given us a chance to start over."

"Now that we know how to correctly feed our Tree of Life we don't need any of the energy that we have stolen. And instead, it was returned to you and more. And the healing spell of Usagi removed all the decayed and dead wood leaving us with all that we need, a sapling and a chance to start again. Thank you Usagi" continued Ail.

"Yes thank you." Ann said as well.

"Now we must leave and rebuild our race. There is another evil growing on this planet and we cannot risk our Tree's Life now that we have finally saved it." Announced Ail as the two aliens began to rise up in the room while a sphere began forming around them and the sapling.

"We understand." Replied Usagi. "May the light of the Moon always show you the true path." she said before they vanished.

Turning she went to look at the others. As it turned out even though she had been on death's door a few minutes earlier, she was now the healthiest of the Senshi. Pluto had regained consciousness and her ankle injury had been partially healed by the wash of healing energy, though it was still broken. Mars, Venus, and Jupiter while managing not to have anything broken, still had plenty of cracked bones and were in plenty of pain. But they could move around, though a bit slowly. Uranus, Neptune, and Tuxedo-Kamen managed to survive with just some very nice bruises and energy burns, being not much worse off than Usagi. Finding out the status of Mercury would unfortunately have to wait till everyone else was treated, for their "medic" wouldn't take the time to diagnose her own injuries.

Usagi was contemplating ordering Mercury to sit still for a moment so that she could check the blue haired warrior out. However, the sound of emergency vehicles arriving told them that it was time to leave. Changing to her Sailor Moon form, Usagi watched as Uranus picked up the Guardian of Spacetime who would be unable to do any roof hopping of her own for a while. See that the others were all ready and checking that both Luna and Artemis had a good hold on her uniform, Usagi walked out the gaping hole in the exterior wall of the apartment and took to the skies heading for a nearby roof. Midway there she turned around and floated making sure that even with their injuries everyone was still able to make the jump.

Now jumping from roof to roof while Sailor Moon flew beside them, the group headed off into the night. Knowing that at minimum Pluto sported an injury that needed to be treated by something more than simple first aid, Mercury led them to her mother's apartment. Along the way, Mercury sent off a page to her mom

Considering the circumstances under which she had learned about her daughter's secret. Mizuno-san had setup with Ami a set of paging codes for whenever there was anything beyond minor injuries after a battle. This settled at least some of her mother's worries, since at least this way her mother would know right away how badly they had been hurt. The cracked bones that many of them sported qualified this as a low-level injury notification, though the broken ankle of Pluto and Usagi's near death made that a qualified low-level page.

* * *

Dr. Mizuno was just finishing her rounds when she felt her beeper go off. Glancing down to read the display as she walked back to her office, she saw that it was her daughter sending the page. The page was encoded to indicate that they were returning from a battle, but that they were okay with only minor injuries. Mizuno-san sighed a sigh of relief when she saw that part. She had no idea when she would be comfortable enough with her daughter going into battle that her heart wouldn't skip a beat when these codes came in. Part of her hoped that time would never come.

Even though Ami and her friends had apparently not suffered any significant injuries, Mizuno-san still desired to head straight home and to see for herself. Reaching her office, she put the papers she was carrying down on her desk. Quickly ruffling through the messages that had been left for her, she looked to see if there was anything that had to be dealt with before she left. Seeing none, she picked up a stack of reports and folders that she needed to go over tonight and put them in her bag. All set she turned and left.

Since learning her daughter's secret and the resulting visit from Usagi, she had realized the need to reprioritize her life. Till now she had focused way too much time on her work and not enough time on her daughter. She had been very happy when shortly after Ami started in the regular public school system Ami had made friends with Usagi, glad that her daughter was finding a better school-life balance, something that she had never been able to find for herself. But even with seeing her daughter find a better balance and being happy for her, she herself had been unable to break away from her own over emphasis to spend time with her daughter. In some ways Ami making friends with Usagi made that seem less urgent to Mizuno-san.

But then everything changed that night when Sailor Venus was admitted to the hospital. That night and the following morning she learned that her daughter fought in battles that could and that had on two previous occasions claimed her life. And that it was only a miracle that Ami was alive now that her daughter should be dead up there in the artic with her being non the wiser.

The shock of learning of Ami's recent death had finally forced Mizuno-san to reexamine her priorities, to realize that she needed to devote time to spend with her daughter. Even as she headed to sleep that night, she was already thinking of how to lighten her load and the possibility of bringing work home at night, so that she could at least be with her daughter when she looked over the reports. Usagi's visit the next morning had served to underscore her need to spend time with her daughter even more. Not only did she need her daughter, but also her daughter very much needed her, even though she was now a super soldier. 

Work that afternoon was the first day of a new Dr. Mizuno. No longer would she remain at the hospital all hours, instead she made sure to spend plenty of time at home, to be there for her daughter. She had been a bit surprised by how readily the others at the hospital had agreed to her sudden lightening of her load. But she should not have been. When she had finally pressed one of her good colleagues, he had admitted that they had all been concerned for a long time by how hard she had been working herself. But had not said anything since everything seemed to be okay, but were much happier now that she was acting a bit more "human." She had chuckled at that and had admitted to the resulting question that she had woken up one morning and realized how her daughter was growing up and she was missing all of it. 

* * *

Reaching Ami's house, the Sailor Senshi found an out of the way alleyway to land in and revert back to their civilian forms. Unfortunately getting Setsuna across the street was posing a problem, since she could not walk on her own. And carrying her would raise too many questions. So, Ami had to henshin back to her Senshi form and deploy a mist in the area. Then under the cover of the fog, the warriors walked to Ami's house with Makoto and Haruka carrying Setsuna.

After carefully depositing Setsuna in a chair, Makoto and Haruka joined the other in collapsing to the ground. "That was a less than fun adventure." Makoto said

"You can say that again." Agreed Venus as she wondered if her Senshi nature would allow her to take some extra painkillers with no ill effect.

"Well at least we managed to resolve the situation with Ail and Ann." Luna commented. "Now there is only one enemy to keep us occupied."

"True." Rei agreed. "Now maybe we will get the time to rest between attacks." Then looking up to accept a steaming mug of tea that Usagi was handing her, she said. "Arigatoo."

Usagi smiled at Rei and then proceeded to go around the room handing out the rest of the mugs. Finished with that task it was now time for one other task before she helped Ami with bandaging everyone. "Ami-chan, why don't you take a moment and scan yourself."

Ami who was bringing in a box of hospital supplies that her mom had acquired for them looked over to tell Usagi that that could wait, however upon seeing the expression on her princess's face, Ami realized that there was no getting out of this scan. Putting down the box she was carrying down on the table, she took out her computer, activated the diagnostic functions, and then handed it to Usagi to hold for a moment. After letting it scan herself for a minute, she reached out to take back the computer and scanned the results.

"I have some energy burns, some nice bruises and my left wrist seems to be injured. Not broken, but it should be bandaged." Ami said.

"Well then lets get you taken care of." Usagi replied as she pulled Ami down and began rummaging through the supplies.

"Odango-atama do you know what you're doing?" asked Rei.

"Nope." Usagi honestly replied. "Ami can tell me what to do."

That response seemed to satisfy Rei and anyways the priestess was just as interested in making sure Ami got herself treated as well. It took Usagi a little time, but she managed to correctly follow Ami's directions and before long, the blue haired girl was all taken care of and was checking on the others. The first of the group she checked on was Setsuna, as she needed to set her ankle before her accelerated Senshi healing began to knit the bones where they currently lay.

Ami had just finished applying the cast to Setsuna's ankle when the she heard the front door open. Whipping off her hands with a paper towel, she looked up as her mom walked in. "Hi Mom." She said greeted her mother.

"Hi Ami." her mother returned. "How is everyone doing?" she asked.

"Not too bad, Mizuno-san." Minako replied from where she was sitting. "Except for Setsuna-san we are mainly in just a fair bit of hurt from today's battle."

"What's wrong with Meiou-san?" Ami's mother asked.

"She has a broken ankle." Ami replied. "Unfortunately it looks like you'll have to wear this cast for the next five days." Ami said this time to Setsuna after running a quick simulation on her computer.

With a doctor now to help with the bandaging, the rest were bandaged up very quickly. Ami's mother then suggested that they all spend the night here in a sleepover, feeling that they were too sore to be heading home on their own (well except for Usagi that was). Usagi had to decline since she knew her parents would want to see her tonight after the battle. Spending the night here at Ami's would just make them worry over her.

"You're not going to walk out like that?" Mizuno-san said as Usagi was getting ready to leave.

"Huh?" replied the silver-haired girl. 

"The back of your shirt is all ripped."

"Oh that." Usagi replied as she laughed, having forgotten all about her wings being released during her time wrapped up in those tree roots.

"Usagi-chan, I think I have a jacket that would fit you." Ami replied as she led Usagi back to her room. Rummaging through her closest she pulled out the jacket and gave it to Usagi. "By the way, why don't you just use a spell to hide the rips?"

"I could, but for some reason I just don't like using spells when I am supposed to just be Usagi. I know I kind of use ones for the hiding of who I am to be Usagi. But that is more a lowering of my energy levels causing the crescent moon to vanish. And for my wings, well those are actually as you know now pulled into to my body and not just hidden. Which is why I like leaving them out when I can. If my jumbled explanation makes any sense."

"Hai it does." Ami replied. _I guess in some ways she is even more hidden now than before the Artic Battle. But using any spell would instantly highlight her as being able to use magic to anyone who can detect magic._

Putting on the jacket that Ami had given her, Usagi said her thanks and left to fetch ChibiUsa.

* * *

Checking the address on the piece of paper that ChibiUsa had given her this morning, Usagi turned to go through the gate to the Tomoe household. Looking up and seeing that house for the first time, Usagi was amazed. Luna saw Usagi's reaction and dropped her head as she knew that her charge was about to go all gaga over the huge house that Hotaru lived in. But then, Usagi clamped down on her enthusiasm surprising Luna. However, it was not really that surprising at all, Ikuko was going to start serving dinner in 30 minutes and that did not give Usagi any time to waste in retrieving ChibiUsa and then heading home.

Reaching the front door, Usagi rang the doorbell and patiently waited for it to be answered. The door opened to reveal Eudial whom Usagi recognized as the lady who often took Hotaru to the park.

Remembering the other woman's name, Usagi spoke "Good afternoon Eudial-san."

"Good afternoon to you to Usagi-san. I take it that you are here to pick up ChibiUsa-san." Eudial replied.

"Hai."

"Why don't you come in then? I believe they are out back playing." Eudial said to Usagi as she let the girl into the house. Then as they walked past a closed door, Eudial opened it and stuck her head in. "Mimete could you go get Hotaru and her friend. Usagi-san is here to pick up her cousin."

After sending Mimete off to fetch the two girls, Eudial led Usagi into the kitchen. "Knowing kids it might take a few minutes for them to arrive, so why don't we have some tea while we wait."

"Arigatoo" replied Usagi.

Sitting down with Eudial at a small eating table in the kitchen, she picked up one of the biscuits and began nibbling on it a bit before asking, "How is Hotaru-chan doing after yesterday?"

"If you had asked me this morning, I would have said very bad. Terrible dreams plagued her for the most of the night. From what she was able to remember it sounded like she was reliving that battle over and over every fifteen minutes."

"How terrible." Usagi replied wondering if it was because ChibiUsa had slept with her last night that her daughter had not had similar nightmares. "And you are such a wonderful person for staying up with all night, being there for her every time she awoke."

"How did you know" Eudial began to ask.

"I can see the lack of sleep in your eyes, but I also know from the way I have seen you watch out for her in the past. You are taking good care of her."

"Thank you." replied Eudial. Then pausing, she had some of her biscuit and another sip of tea, before continuing. "However, as of now I think she may be fully recovered. ChibiUsa's visit seems to have fully livened her up. I don't think I have seen her this happy for a very long time. Though the real test will come tonight when she dreams again."

"Hai," agreed Usagi.

"So how are you doing?" Eudial asked

"I am managing. It hit me very hard yesterday when I learned about what had happened at her school, especially when I got a chance to see the damage that was done to her school. What was worse is that this is not the first time that ChibiUsa has been caught in the middle of an attack like this. And the last time, I watched as one of those villains prepared to kill her."

Eudial had know that Usagi and her cousin were very close and now as she saw the anguish in Usagi's face as she recounted the emotions that she had felt after the incident yesterday Eudial understood why. Usagi had come close multiple times to loosing her cousin, including apparently being there once, that was enough to cut through the "sibling" rivalry that she had expected to see between Usagi and ChibiUsa and to cause Usagi to have a much more motherly attitude.

"But she is safe and that is all that matters." Usagi quickly concluded deciding not to go down that unpleasant path again. "And I cannot think of a better place for her to be today than here with her best friend where both of them can heal their terrors together. And further more I don't think this area is a prime candidate for any demon attack, considering that they seem to prefer areas with lots of people."

* * *

Mimete sat watching one of her favorite soap operas when Eudial interrupted, telling to go fetch Hotaru and ChibiUsa. Getting up and walking out of the room, she grumbled under her breath a bit about having to be Eudial's errand girl. However, the grumbling was short lived, as on any other day she would be down in the lab now. It was because she was to be Eudial's errand girl today that she had the day off, allowing her to watch her favorite soap operas.

Considering that because of watching over Hotaru, Eudial had only gotten two and a half hours of sleep last night, the professor had given her the day off. And with Hotaru spending the day at the house, the professor had wanted someone to be here and that left Mimete to have the task of lounging around the house. A task that got even easier when Eudial awoke late in the morning and refused to completely take the day off (something that Mimete was all too willing to agree to).

Reaching the back door of the house, Mimete opened it and walked out into the backyard. Looking around she found the two girls and walked towards them.

"ChibiUsa-chan your cousin is here to pick you up." Mimete called out when she had gotten close enough

From where she currently lay on the ground with Hotaru standing above her, ChibiUsa tried to decide if she wanted to try extending this play date any further or be a good girl and promptly follow this lady in. Remembering the sinking feeling that she had had a little earlier with regard to her mother, ChibiUsa decided that today at least she would be a good girl. Looking up apologetically at Hotaru, ChibiUsa picked herself up off the ground.

"Well I guess I have to go." ChibiUsa said as she was getting up.

"Hai. Arigatoo for coming though." Hotaru replied.

The two girls then walked side beside back to the house with Diana following on the ground. None of the three noticed that something had fallen off ChibiUsa into the grass. Mimete had noticed it however, and bent down to retrieve it. Picking up the golden key, she looked at it and shrugged her shoulders and began walking back to the house as well. She had no idea what it was for, but figured that it had to belong to either Hotaru or her friend. However, as she walked back she began to realize that there was something not right about this key. Taking it out back out, she looked at it again. There straining her senses she realized that it was pulsing ever so slightly with magical power. _Hmm… this might prove to be interesting at some point. I think I will hold on to it for the time being._

* * *

"ChibiUsa-chan" Usagi said as she saw Mimete walk into the kitchen with two children in tow. "And Konnichiwa Hotaru-chan. I hope you are doing good today."

"Hai, it was a fun day." Hotaru replied. And then turning to address ChibiUsa, "Thank you for visiting me today ChibiUsa-chan. Since it will be another day before school is open again, call me tomorrow morning."

"Hai!" replied a happy ChibiUsa.

Usagi who was now standing turned and thanked Eudial for the tea and to pass along her appreciation to Tomoe-san for allowing ChibiUsa to visit for the day. Then with all the goodbyes Usagi and ChibiUsa left and began walking home.

They had not gone far before ChibiUsa decided to ask Usagi about the jacket she was wearing. "Usagi when did you get that jacket?"

"Oh, this is Ami-chan's. I am just borrowing it, as my school uniform is a bit ripped."

"Something happened today didn't it?" ChibiUsa replied her voice becoming downcast, knowing that the feeling she had felt earlier today had been real.

"Yes it did, I'll tell you about it more when we got home. However, the short story is that we were able to heal the two aliens who had arrived in that fake meteor. Unfortunately before that happened they captured me and tried to drain my life energy." Seeing the worried look that was coming over ChibiUsa, Usagi kneeled down in front of ChibiUsa while saying, "But don't worry I'm all fine now." Standing back up she continued her explanation, "Anyways as a result of that, I lost control of my ability to be Usagi and not Serenity. And when my wings decided to show themselves, they kind of ripped holes in my shirt." _Thankfully they sliced out and just ripped my shirt instead of bursting the whole back off. Would have thought that would have been the result._

"Ah…" ChibiUsa said as she realized how that could have caused a problem. She knew that there was far more to this story than what Usagi had told her so far. But was content for the moment to accept her mother's reassurances and to just walk holding her mom's hand.

**

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End Notes:

Well after only five months or so, this chapter has finally gone out. Though I did have some excuse for the extended delay. I spent this summer working at a scout camp as the Assistant Rifle Range Directory (no knowledge of rifles before hand) and so was completely without access to my computer for 2 months (especially since the camp is in RI and I live in NC). Then there were various trips, to see my parents, attend my girlfriend's commencement, and to interview for a job. Sadly though I am still looking for my next chemical engineering job. Well this wraps up the Ail and Ann arc so we can get fully into the Rubeus and Tomoe arc, the Sailor Senshi won't be having it easy for long. I know some are not going to like Uranus and Neptune's actions earlier in the chapter in hunting for pure heart crystals. However, I am assuming that they were not just relying on the enemy to hunt out the Talismans (not a very good strategic move I would think). Next chapter time to see what happens when Rubeus and Tomoe join their efforts together in creating a monster. 


	28. The Paragon of Animals

The Fragility of Time  
BOOK TWO: "Falling Towards Apotheosis"  
Chapter 28 "The Paragon of Animals"  
Author: etj4Eagle  
Email: etj4Eagle@yahoo.com  
http://www.geocities.com/etj4eagle  
Lasted Edited: 11/16/02

Disclaimer: A reminder I own none of the characters of this story, all rights are owned by others. However, the unique circumstances of the story are mine. If you distribute the story, do only so freely and inform me of where you post it.

* * *

Chapter 28 "The Paragon of Animals" 

Disclaimer: A reminder I own none of the characters of this story, all rights are owned by others. However, the unique circumstances of the story are mine. If you distribute the story, do only so freely and inform me of where you post it.

_______________________________________

Rubeus stood in a darken room in the basement of the Infinity academy. This room was Tomoe's secret laboratory where he had formally carried out his work for Pharaoh 90 and where he now worked on his new task of freeing the Wiseman. The room was quite large with various machines strewn about; some of them remaining from the accident and others, new ones the professor had created after the accident. This particular corner of the room contained a set of long tables upon which test tubes and beakers of foul smelling chemicals sat.

Back in the future he rarely if ever stepped into the laboratories on Nemesis. He was a soldier and had no need to understand the workings of science. He did what he was told and accepted the capabilities of the tools that he was given. But things had changed; he no longer had the luxury of just blindly accepting what he was given. Instead, now as the only remaining soldier of the Nemesis clan, the duty of supervising the work of this scientist fell to him.

Consequently, he was now in the professor's laboratory listening to professor Tomoe. However, even though he made an honest effort to try to follow Tomoe's excited words, he was still completely lost. Examining the purplish liquid contained within a test tube, which Tomoe had given him Rubeus patience with trying to follow Tomoe's words reached its breaking point and he asked, "So what is so special about this foul smelling liquid?" 

Taking back the test tube, Professor Tomoe replied with a chuckle, "Just watch, it really is a marvelous process."

Using a pair of metal tongs to hold the glass cylinder, Tomoe placed it over the open flame of the Bunsen burner. Rubeus intently watched the liquid that the tube contained as the professor moved it back and forth through the flame evenly heating it. At first, nothing happened and Rubeus began to wonder what he was supposed to be seeing, but then he saw something. It grew quickly from nothing more then a speck till within a few seconds it was as wide as the test tube. But that did not stop its growth; instead, it kept growing, shattering the tube. It only stopped when it had reached its full size of just over three inches along its major axis and two and a half along the minor one.

Reaching out a gloved hand, Tomoe took a hold of the floating daimon egg. "This Rubeus-sama is what is so special about the broth that I have been brewing. These eggs have the power to possess objects, creating a creature whose one purpose is seeking out those with pure hearts and extracting them. And it is in those hearts that we will find the talismans. Society is so corrupt nowadays that finding the pure hearts that hold the talismans should be no problem."

"And why should you expect to find these talismans here in Tokyo? The planet is quite large you know." a skeptical Rubeus replied.

"I agree, however Mistress 9 could feel their energy and she was able to communicate to the being that had possessed me that they were located here in this city."

_Figures._ thought Rubeus as pondered the coincidence of both the talismans and the crystal city points being in the same location. He was no expert (or even that knowledgeable at all) on magic theory, but he guessed that it did make a certain amount of convoluted sense.

Producing a droid crystal, he was ready to begin his part of this little experiment. "Just by themselves, the warriors produced by these crystals are very formidable. They are responsible for the success of our struggle in the future. However, coupling that power with the added boost provided by your daimon eggs will create an opponent that the Sailor Senshi will be unable to defeat."

Rubeus reached out his right hand, into which Tomoe placed the daimon egg. Not quite sure what was going to happen, Rubeus then brought the egg together with the droid crystal that he held in his left hand. Sensing the presence of another object, the egg scanned the crystal before rising up. The egg then floated towards and into the crystal. The crystal then glowed white with energy as the egg began to affect its host, but the crystal also reacted feeding back on the changes that the egg was making. The end result was a crystalline egg.

Rubeus could easily feel the increased power that now lay dormant in this egg. _Now for the real fun to begin._ Rubeus thought with an evil smile as he imagined the havoc that this and future enhanced droids would create. 

Turning to the other person in the room, he addressed her. "Of the professor's various assistants I believe that you are the one most suited and most worthy of this task to find the pure heart crystals. However, even though you have a powerful tool in this droid-egg, you yourself are not strong enough to face the Sailor Senshi. They are fierce warriors and it is only fitting that you should have the same power that the former Sisters had as well. Take this crystal shard and receive your gift from the Wiseman himself."

Rubeus removed a dark purple crystal from his vest and handed it over to Kaolinite. The red haired woman did not hesitate in grabbing a hold of the crystal and bringing it up to her chest. She could feel the power pulsing within it and greedily looked to having that power at her fingertips. With a pulse, her essence was pulled into the crystal.

* * *

Her astral body floated in a nothingness that was obscured by a dark purple haze, the same color as the crystal. Wondering what had happened, she looked around but could only see that haze, nothing else existed. Confused, she turned back around to look straightforward and came face to face with a hooded figure.

"You must be the helper that Rubeus has selected. I see that he made an excellent choice. You are perfectly suited for handling the great power that I am about to give you."

Kaolinite beamed at that acknowledgement of her superiority. Beneath his cowl, the Wiseman also smiled when he saw that. _These Tehrans are so easy to manipulate._ "Now prepare to receive the powers that are by right yours."

As the Wiseman talked to Kaolinite, his hands traced ever increasingly complex patters over his crystal ball. Before long, the dark energy of the crystal began to build and hover just off his body and the crystal ball. Then with a smile that sent chills down Kaolinite's back the spell was finished and energy began to snake off that crystal ball and towards Kaolinite. The energy wrapped itself around her body, binding her before it flared, blinding her vision, and with the sensation of being burned alive, penetrated her very essence.

When the pain finally subsided and she could return to her senses, she found that she was back in the laboratory again and could feel the cool air of the room against her skin. Bring her arms back down to her sides, she handed Rubeus back that mystical crystal shard. Knowing that it was time to prove herself, she picked up the crystalline egg from where Rubeus had placed it and turned to leave the laboratory.

"I shall get you your heart crystals" she declared as she walked out. It was only after leaving the laboratory that she looked down at her hands and saw the massive red and black burns in her palms that the crystal had caused. However, the pain was worth the power that she had been given. Later after she had returned she would also notice one additional change, her forehead now spotted a down turned black crescent moon.

* * *

Kaolinite stood on the roof of a low building overlooking the bustling streets below. While she herself had no idea how to tell a human with a pure heart crystal from one without, the egg that she held did. Releasing the egg, she followed it as it headed off towards its target. Leaving the streets, it headed into a park and there found its target. 

Sitting on the bench sat Hiroshi, head administrator of an animal shelter here in the Juuban district of Tokyo. The egg approached to within five feet from behind and then stopped. Floating in the air there for a moment, it wobbled back and forth before the droid crystal activated.

The droid being an energy-collecting model (the only ones that Rubeus had expected to be on his ship) at first took the form of its target. However, then the influence of the daimon half of this beast kicked in and it took its demonic fighting form, though more demonic than normal. Stepping forward, this creature had a black star on its forehead. As it got close to the still unaware gentleman, the star began to emit a black light. 

* * *

Makoto and Ami walked down the streets of Tokyo. Being a Saturday, they did not have school, which always made the brunette happy. Feeling a need to get out amongst the plant life this morning, she had decided to visit the local botanical garden today. With her direction set, she only needed to then round up a couple of friends to enjoy the outing with. That unfortunately, turned out to be not so easy. It seemed that everyone had their day already planned: Minako was playing in a volleyball tournament, Michiru had a concert and of course Haruka was with her, Rei was too concerned with meditating and Usagi and ChibiUsa were on an outing of their own. However the one friend that she had expected from the forthright to be busy wasn't. Ami-chan had decided without needing to be prodded at all that she did not need to study any further for the big test on Monday and instead had wanted to come and see the gardens and the "various rare and unique species of flora they contained."

And so, it was that they were walking down the streets of Tokyo together this afternoon with Makoto carrying a picnic lunch. By the time she had given up trying to convince the others to come with her, it was already late morning. And as a result, Makoto decided to pack a lunch for the two of them to eat at the park, which contained the gardens.

The two girls chatted about various things including school. Though for Ami it was worrying about being enough chapters ahead of the rest of the class, while for Makoto it was about needing to study for Monday's exam of which she had not studied at all for yet. Arriving at the park, they found a nice quiet spot to set down their stuff and began to enjoy their lunch.

"While I feel bad for saying this, it is so much more peaceful having a lunch without Rei and Usagi here." Makoto said between bites of her food.

"Hai, I know what you mean. Usagi and Rei do have a way of keeping picnic lunches from being completely peaceful affairs. Though you do have to give the two of them credit, as they have matured quit a bit since ChibiUsa arrived here in the past. Back before her arrival, they always seemed to be trying to one-up the other. Rei was even trying to convince me that I should support her as our leader instead."

Makoto nodded grimly as she listened to Ami's description of what things had been like. She pitied Ami for having to deal with those two in the early days. That thought of "the early days" caused her to laugh.

"What's so funny Mako-chan?" asked a perplexed Ami.

"Nothing really. It was just what you said and how I thought of that time as being the early days. However, we have only been Senshi for what, months now? Not even a year. And I found it strange that I would already be seeing the first month or so of it as the distant past."

"I can see what you mean." replied Ami as she also thought for a moment about how much things had changed during the months that followed that first one. In some ways, it now seemed like during that first month she was nothing more than a little kid pretending to be a superior hero in comparison to how things were now.

Their talk then drifted onto other subjects, as the two girls enjoyed the beginning of a beautiful afternoon. Unfortunately, a scream ended their lunch early. With reactions honed from scores of battles, the two warriors quickly shifted to squat on the ground while turning to look for the source of the scream. Finding a demon off in the distance, the two warriors continued their fluid motions to rise to their feet and quickly head for cover. As she jogged, Ami activated her communicator to summon the others before joining Makoto in transforming.

Now outfitted in their battle attire, the two warriors headed towards the demon attack. With her visor already deployed and computer out, Mercury began to scan the demon looking for any weakness or unexpected strengths it might have. Jupiter for her part scanned the area with her eyes for Rubeus, whom she knew would be lurking nearby. However, before she could finish looking for him, the extraction of a glowing crystal from the victim's chest got her attention.

"What is that?" Jupiter asked when the crystal had been fully extracted.

"I am not sure, however my scans are showing that all the life energy of that man has been transferred to that crystal. He is still alive, but without the energy contained in that crystal he won't survive for long." Mercury replied

Mercury's answer caused Jupiter to shudder. Till now their enemies only took a little energy at time from their victims, causing them to pass out. The only lasting effects of those attacks were symptoms similar to having had a few sleepless night. And, then within a couple of days they were fully recovered. But this time it was different. This time they were draining their victims completely dry.

Incensed, Jupiter yelled "Stop right there. How dare you steal the life of an innocent? For that in the name of the planet Jupiter..."

"And Mercury..."

"We will punish you." the two warriors ended together.

Kaolinite looked up at the interlopers, but their presence did not bother her, the droid had finished its task. "I think not Sailor Soldiers." then turning to address her servant she commanded it to "get them."

The creature immediately obeyed. Turning, the reasonably man-like creature regarded its pray. Anxious to please its master, the creature began to shimmer, and then as the glow fully encased its body, it leapt into the air towards the two Soldiers. Or rather towards a spot directly above them, for it passed about 10 feet above their heads.

Jupiter and Mercury braced themselves for an attack, however none came. Instead, with a blinding flash of light it split into five rays of energy. Arcing down to the ground, each of the rays formed one point of an equilateral pentagon. Where a ray hit a smaller demon was left, each one resembling an animal. Two of them were large dogs/wolves, there was an alligator, a large snake, the fifth spot revealed a pack of kittens.

"Something tells me that I am not going to like this." Jupiter said as she backed up against Mercury.

"This droid's energy signature show substantial differences from previous ones that we have fought before. I am not sure what it all means, but one thing is definitely clear, this one is far more powerful that any previous droid we have fought." Mercury said as she put away her computer and deactivated her visor.

"Great, just great." replied Jupiter as she nervously eyed the two dogs that were sizing her up. "Just hope that the others get here soon. Sparkling Wide Pressure."

The two demon dogs eagerly leapt at their pray, salivating at the opportunity to tear it to shreds. Thankfully, Jupiter had been expecting them to jump her, and as a result, her attack caught the dog on the left squarely in its chest and knocked it backwards. Normally Jupiter would then have jumped out of the way to avoid the second dog's attack. Unfortunately, the decision to back up against Mercury so that they would be watching each other's back prevented that option (she was not about to let the dog rip into her friends backside so that she could protect her own hide).

Instead, Jupiter did the only thing she could do: attempt to block the attack. Sacrificing her left arm, Jupiter winced in pain as the dog's teeth dug into it. However, it was better the arm than her side. Not letting the pain control her, she winced even more as she began to bring the arm down and to the side, pulling the demon dog with it. Then as the arm was almost to the ground, she let the pain fuel her right arm as she slammed a punch into the demon's head. Stunned for the moment it released her arm and dropped to the ground.

Released from the beast, Jupiter dropped one knee to the ground as the pain became almost too much to bear. She had only just dropped down when she felt a rush of air from something passing through the space where she had just been standing. That rush of air caused reality to snap back into focus for Jupiter. Ready to return to battle she forced her mind to ignore the pain of her left arm as she stood back up.

Deciding that the back-to-back arrangement was not a good one, Jupiter decided to draw her demons away from Mercury. Noticing that she seemed to have the undivided attention of the two demon dogs she flipped through the air to land a few meters away. Landing she was pleasantly rewarded with the approach of the two demons. Standing her ground, she let them approach closer before unleashing another lighting attack and then quickly moving to another position. This time she was not going to let herself be an easy target for those two.

* * *

While the luck of the draw had handed the two demon dogs to Jupiter, Mercury had three opponents in front of her. Quickly analyzing the threat that each of the three demons posed, Mercury decided to take care of the Alligator first. Putting all of her might into it, she cast a Shine Aqua Illusion at that demon. When the blue mist accompanying her attack cleared, she was pleased to see that she had fully incased the gator in block of ice.

The snake had not moved forward, instead also taking a moment to study its opponent. Feeling the chill of the Shine Aqua Illusion passing nearby it turned to see its partner encased in ice. While it was a demon and not really a snake, it had nevertheless inherited its cold-blooded nature, and consequently was now very weary of the blue haired Senshi, and decided for the moment to hold back and let the little pack of kittens attack.

Unlike the other participants in this battle, the demon kittens had not hesitated in rushing its opponent. Consequently, as Mercury regained her footing from casting her spell she found that this group of mini-demons had closed to within an arms reach. Preparing to leap out of the way, Mercury looked down at the kittens, analyzing how best to deal with them. Unfortunately, that was just what they were waiting for and as soon as Mercury made eye contact with them, she found herself hypnotized.

Now seeing them as being just very kawaii adorable kittens, Mercury dropped down to the ground. On her knees, she bent forward to pick up one of the kittens so that she could cuddle it. Thankfully for her, the demon kittens had yet to learn the virtue of patience and consequently they hissed as soon as she reached toward them, breaking the hypnotism. Free from the trance, Mercury halted her movements, but unfortunately, it was still too late, as they had gotten too close.

Mercury attempted to get to her feet and get away from these kittens, but as she stood up the kittens began lunging at her legs. At first, she was able to ignore them, but all too quickly, she began to stagger under the onslaught and was forced back down. Down on her knees she was even more vulnerable as the swarm began leaping at her torso and before long, she found herself flat on her back. Her arms and legs flailed as she attempted to free herself of this menace. But no matter how many she kicked away, froze, or just plain tossed off her body there were always more of them.

* * *

Kaolinite seeing the trouble that the two Sailor Senshi were having with the demon smiled. The Wiseman would be quite pleased to learn that she had dispatched two of the troublesome Sailor Senshi. All that was left was to collect this pure heart crystal, shatter it to reveal the talisman and then return. Unfortunately, the arrival of Sailor Uranus and her World Shaking prevented her from walking forward to complete that final simple task. Standing her ground, Kaolinite turned to regard this new nuisance and found two more Sailor Senshi standing up on a tree limb. 

Uranus had been a bit surprised to see someone other than Rubeus controlling this demon, but that was a question for a later time. Putting aside her confusion, she announced herself, "Protected by the winds and guarding this system from without I am Sailor Uranus."

"And protected by the seas and standing the everlasting guard at the edges, I am Sailor Neptune."

"Well in any case you will soon be Sailor Charcoal and Sailor Ash." Kaolinite replied as she used for the first time her new powers. From her outstretched hands fountains of fire erupted. The flames quickly engulfed the tree that the two warriors of the outer solar system had been in only moments before. 

Landing on the ground, Uranus and Neptune each moved in different directions before unleashing a counterattack of their own. Kaolinite also proved nimble on her feet and was easily able to dodge their attacks. Though as it was a two on one fight, Uranus and Neptune had the advantage. While Kaolinite was proving quite adapt in dodging their attacks, they were however able to deny her the time she would need to cast anything more than distraction spells. Consequently, it was only a matter of time before she became sufficiently frustrated and withdrew. Or that would have been the case, if Neptune while dodging one of Kaolinite's attacks had not glanced over at Jupiter and Mercury.

While Jupiter seemed to be managing for the moment, the same could not be said of Mercury who was being held to the ground by some kind of demon. Even though Mercury was in need of help, Neptune would have continued to fight Kaolinite if she had not also seen the second demon, which was slowly approaching Mercury. Whereas the first demon was just overwhelming the Ice Senshi, the approaching snake demon was dripping a very acidic venom from its fangs and consequently leaving a nicely scorched trail behind it. No matter how strong they were as Sailor Senshi, Mercury would not be able to survive a direct attack from that creature.

She and Uranus had accepted the necessity of having to make sacrifices in their quest to retrieve the Talismans, but at the same time, she was not about to make any more sacrifices than necessary. Her princess had managed to teach her that much during the short time that they had known each other this life. She had faith that Uranus would be able to hold out against Kaolinite and so she left the battle. Running towards Jupiter and Mercury, Neptune used a Deep Submerge to scatter the kittens away from Mercury. With the kittens clear, she was able to reach down and pick up the petite warrior without breaking stride. As soon as she had Mercury in her arms, she leapt up into the air to ensure that they got out of the demon snake's striking range.

Holding Mercury in much the same way that Tuxedo-Kamen would hold Sailor Moon when he rescued her, she landed on the rim of a fountain. Looking down at the petite warrior she was holding, she asked, "Are you okay?" 

"Hai, I think so" Mercury replied, upon which Neptune placed her down on the ground. Then as Neptune got ready to return to the fight Mercury added, "Arigatoo." Neptune's only response was a wink before she moved to engage the demons.

Taking a few moments to recover from the kitten swarm, Mercury remained at the fountain. Taking in the situation, she saw that Jupiter was not doing so well with her two demons while Neptune had moved to "play" with the kittens. Deciding to give the Thunder Senshi a break, she plunged the battlefield into obscurity before returning to the battle herself.

A relieved Jupiter took quick advantage of the opportunity to escape away from her two "playmates" and jogged over to Neptune and Mercury.  Once there she said, "Like I said when this first started. This is not good."

"Hai." Agreed Neptune. "Since when did Rubeus start using five droids in the same location?" Neptune asked having not seen the original demon split into five parts. "This is reminding me too much of the night in which we had to fight three youmas and an two droids."

"Actually this is just one demon, it split itself into five parts." Mercury replied. "And as you probably have guessed, my scans indicate that this one is substantially stronger than any droid that we have faced in the past."

_Lovely, and I was hoping she was going to have some good news when she corrected me._ Neptune thought. With the thinning of the fog, their break was over and Neptune along with the other two reexamined the battlefield looking to where their efforts would be best applied. Also taking a moment to take in the Uranus-Kaolinite battle, the aqua haired warrior saw her love thrown to the ground hard. Stunned, the blonde haired warrior did not get back up and was now easy picking for Kaolinite who was preparing a final attack. Moving quickly Neptune fired off one of her own in sufficient time to intercept the fireball and prevent Uranus from becoming that Sailor Charcoal that Kaolinite had promised.

Seeing her attack doused my Neptune, Kaolinite addressed the aqua-haired warrior "Well I guess you decided to come back and play with me instead of my pets. However, it doesn't really matter as soon you'll both be dead along with your two friends out there."

"I don't think so." Came a voice that lifted everyone's spirits. "I will protect my friends to my last breath. I am the one known as Sailor Moon and in the name of the Moon I will punish you." Sailor Moon said from where she, Venus, Neptune, and ChibiMoon had just entering the park.

Not wasting any time the new arrivals instantly bounded up to where the action was. Giving Jupiter some help, Venus ensnared the two demon dogs together her golden chain. As they were in mid-leap when Venus cast her spell, the resulting bound bundle slammed into the ground beside the Jupiter. Glancing down to examine Venus's handiwork, Jupiter very glad that these two particular demons were out of the picture for at least the moment sent the blonde a quick smile of thanks before looking for something else to fight. Deciding that Mercury could use some aid in dealing with her nemesis, Jupiter proceeded to electrocute the demon kittens.

Mercury walked over to where the stunned kittens lay. Picking one of the up she examined it to make sure that it was really out of it for the moment. _Good now hopefully I won't have nightmares about these things tonight._ she thought to herself. _Now to take care of that snake._ Dropping the demon, Mercury turned to see the demon snake slither towards Sailor Moon.

She had not been the only one to see the snake, as Mars had also seen it and quickly tossed a fireball at it. However, from her point of view Mercury could see what was down range of the snake and cried out "Mars no!"

A perplexed Sailor Mars looked at Mercury wondering what was wrong. As Mercury feared the snake was easily able to avoid the fireball by dropping flat to the ground. Then as Mars watched the fireball continue, she realized the problem, but it was too late. The spell impacted the block of ice encasing the frozen alligator upon which the energy of Mars negated that of Mercury, unleashing one more demon.

"Oops" Mars at least had the grace to say as she slowly began backing away from the mess that she had just created.

Awaking from its forced slumber the gator was ready to join the battle. In examining the battlefield, its thoughts were on finding itself some lunch. Looking around the closest thing that looked like food was Sailor ChibiMoon. She was about the right size and seemed appetizing enough.

ChibiMoon had been surveying the battle to see where best to help when her eyes caught sight of the gator that was now moving towards her. Focusing on this threat, she tried to use her moon wand to attack it. While this time her attack did work on the first attempt, it did not have the desired effect. The string of surgery hearts that her wand produced where just gobbled up by the gator and due to their sugary sweetness caused it to move even faster as they just wetted its appetite for the main entrée. Seeing her attack fail, ChibiUsa was paralyzed by fear. But then at the last moment, Tuxedo-Kamen swooped down and whisked her out of harm's way.

"Tuxedo-Kamen-sama…" ChibiMoon called out in a happy voice until the two of them were suddenly pulled back down to the ground. Mamoru though he was a well-versed college student did not know much about alligators and hence did not realize that a 12-foot gator could jump up to 8 feet in the air. Which meant that even though he had leapt immediately after grabbing ChibiUsa, the gator, which had also jumped at that point, was able to grab a hold of his cape with its jaws. Thankfully, for him, he was at the edge of its striking range, and so only his cape got caught.

Falling to the ground, Tuxedo-Kamen with a torn cape rolled to a stop. ChibiMoon who had fallen out of his arms when he had been yanked back down fell to the ground not far from him. Getting to his knees, Tuxedo-Kamen shook his head and looked around. Unfortunately, things were not good at all, the gator was practically on top of them and the others were too far away to help at all. Hoping to fend off the beast, he attempted to use his extending cane. But the gator made short work of that idea, by snapping it into two.

"Uh Oh." was all Tuxedo Kamen had to say.

Thankfully for the two of them, Mercury had seen their plight. While she was too far away to help in the conventional way, she was not too far away to provide some advice. "ChibiMoon wrap your arms around its jaws in a bear hug. While it muscles can close the jaw with a force of a couple tons, the opposing muscles are very weak and cannot even lift a small child."

ChibiMoon hesitantly looked at the gator not quite confident in Mercury's belief that she would be safe. However, there wasn't really much of an option. Tuxedo-Kamen's stalling efforts against the gator was not going well. "Well if it's going to eat me, might as well face it head on." And with that ChibiMoon raced towards the gator.

"ChibiMoon!" Tuxedo-Kamen called out, having missed Mercury's explanation, as he was too busy at the time trying to keep all his limps attached and away from the jaws of that creature. He watched in horror as his future daughter wrapped her arms and legs around the mouth of that creature. Horror, which turned into amazement as he realized that it was unable to open its jaws back up.

_It's working!_ ChibiMoon jubilantly thought as she realized that indeed the demon gator could not open its mouth. The demon was not too happy with this sudden change of circumstances and began to get very mad with not being able to open its jaws. While its arms were too short to reach the pray which had clamped onto its jaws, it was not without options. And so consequently, the demon began smashing ChibiMoon into the ground and any obstructions that it could find. ChibiMoon for her part just closed her eyes and held on for her life, knowing that the moment she let go that the creature would gobble her up.

* * *

While the rest of the Senshi had moved right away to engage the various demons, Sailor Moon stayed back. With her only attacks being finishing moves, she was at disadvantage until the others had sufficiently weekend the various demons. Though that had not always been the case, prior to her power up during the artic battle she had her tiara, which she could use. But this new form of hers lacked a tiara, and she couldn't handle the increased power that it gave her either. Consequently, it was hindering her more than helping her.

She could still have tried using the power of the Ginzuishou directly, especially in forming shields. However, still being a novice with the Ginzuishou and now being very wary of stretching her limits let she create another disaster like the tunnel, she did not want to even try that. All of which left her with just her moon scepter and good old fighting skills (which had improved a fair bit due to those martial arts classes that her father was making her take).

In deciding which of her Senshi to go help, Usagi happened to be looking in the right direction to see the two bound demon dogs begin to glow. Intrigued, she looked more closely and saw their glowing bodies overlap. When the overlap was complete, the two images firmed up into one larger and even more viscous dog. With little effort, it was able to snap free of the energy chain that bound its body.

Knowing where she was needed, Sailor Moon rushed towards Venus. Tackling the blond haired warrior, she pulled her down to the ground just in time to avoid being taken out by the new and improved demon dog. Rolling to her side a confused Sailor Venus looked up and saw the demon land on the other side of where she had been standing.

"Arigatoo, guess that this is not going to be quite so easy." Venus said realizing what would have happened had Sailor Moon not tackled her.

"Hai, unfortunately not." replied Sailor Moon.

Getting back two their feet, the two warriors had to immediately leap out of the way of another attack by the demon dog. Not having much patience for this demon, Venus blasted it with a crescent beam as soon as she landed. The beam hit it squarely in its flank and as it turned to growl at Sailor Venus, Sailor Moon gave it a resounding kick to its head.

* * *

Neptune and Uranus continued their face off against Kaolinite. The arrival of the full team, minus Pluto, had meant that the two of them no longer had to worry about the droid. Instead they could now concentrate all their efforts at recovering the pure heart crystal and maybe even getting lucky and taking out this lackey. They had not really expected much of an opportunity at that, as normally these lackeys would avoid engaging the Sailor Senshi themselves. And when they did, they would only do so with the bare minimum of effort and danger to their well being. But this lackey was different than all the others; this red haired witch was actually staying to fight the two of them.

Moving in an attempt to gain a momentary advantage, Uranus surmised that it was because this lackey was trying to steal a Pure Heart Crystal that she was still here. Unfortunately, that led to only one possible conclusion: that the enemy also knew about the Talismans and the Holy Grail. This was no energy gathering mission that could be replicated elsewhere, no the Pure Heart Crystal that they were fighting over very likely held one of the three Talismans.

Throwing yet another World Shaking, Uranus jumped out of the way of Kaolinite's counter attack. Landing on the ground, she had to drop down to the ground and roll to the side to avoid a follow-up fireball. Coming to stop by a park bench, she returned to her feet and saw that Neptune had thankfully gotten the witch's attention. Taking the much needed opportunity to catch her breath, she decided that the lackey was doing quite well in holding her own. Then moving to stand up, she caught sight of the Pure Heart Crystal.

Somehow in all of this chaos, she had managed to work her way over to where the crystal had been laying. Not getting up, lest she draw the attention of the enemy, Uranus reached out her arm to gently grab the fragile crystal and bring it back. Even though she had already seen one of these, just a couple of days ago, the beauty of the crystal still marveled her. Now peering into its heart she searched for the Talisman that it should contain.

Realizing that this one too was a dud, Uranus called out to Neptune, "This one does not contain a Talisman either."

Kaolinite heard Uranus's announcement as well. While she had no reason to take what one of enemies had said at face value, she decided that it would be best to concede this battle. They did have the crystal after all and looking over at the other battle, she saw Sailor Moon dust the demon dog.

Walking over to where Uranus was kneeling, Neptune reached offered the Wind Warrior her hand. As Uranus stood, Neptune said, "The enemy is indeed after the Talismans." having come to the same conclusion during the battle as Uranus.

"Hai, it would appear so. Pluto-san's warning about the magnitude of this threat is not without exaggeration."

"And our need to work separately from the others proven, for they would never approve of the sacrifices that will have to be made. But whether it be us or the enemy who does it, the lives of the Talisman carriers are forfeit."

"Hai." a sullen Uranus agreed. She like Neptune wished that they had never been given the task that lay before them. To kill innocents to retrieve magical artifacts chilled their souls. But they had to do it, as if not them, then the enemy would do the killing and then also be in possession of the most powerful artifacts in the galaxy, the power to bring around the end of the world. And it was better that they do this task and keep the blood off the hands of the others.

Reaching Hiroshi, the two warriors knelt beside the victim. Then Neptune slowly lowered the crystal back to his chest and the two of the watched as it was absorbed back into his body. Very quickly, the color of his skin returned and his breather became deeper. They stayed a few moments more as they waited to make sure that he was okay. Seeing his eyes flicker open, the two of them turned and walked to help with mopping up the rest of this attack.

* * *

Jupiter and Mercury had between the two of them the kittens and snake to fight, two opponents that were proving very difficult to get the best of, as in both cases their attacks did not seem to do much damage. The demon snake managed to dodge nearly every attack they sent its way and after that first attack by Jupiter against the kittens, they had been unable to get in a hit that hit them all. So instead of being on the offensive or at least on equal footing, Sailor Jupiter and Sailor Mercury were fighting a purely defensive battle, a battle that kept them moving less they be overwhelmed by the kittens or burned by the acid that the snake was now spitting.

At least the two of them had avoided falling victim to the kittens deadliest weapon, their "kawaii" attack, as Mercury originally had. Unfortunately, Sailor Moon was not so lucky. Coming over to assist them, she spied the kittens. Exclaiming, "How kawaii!" Sailor Moon ran headlong into the mass of demon kittens. Just before she reached them, she dropped down to the ground, resting on her knees, and reached out to pick up one of the kittens. 

Bringing the demon kitten up, she was about to rub it against her face when Sailor Mars from the other side of the battle yelled out, "Odango-Atama! What are you thinking!"

Having seen the scene as well, Uranus and Neptune reacted along with Mars's exclamation by casting their spells. Fueled by the their mistresses' horror, the two attacks merged into one massive ball of energy that shredded the ground on its way towards Sailor Moon. Detonating just in front of the Moon Princess, it flung her like a rag doll backwards. Even Sailor Mars who was dashing towards her friend was knocked to the ground.

Not missing a step, Sailor Mars quickly returned to her feet and adjusted her course to head towards where Sailor Moon now lay. Reaching the silver haired warrior, she helped her sit up.

"Owiee" Sailor Moon complained as she sat up.

"Serves you right Odango-Atama for pulling a stunt like that. What were you thinking, or were you thinking at all?!" questioned a very irate Fire Senshi.

"What do you mean by that?" Sailor Moon retorted before suddenly whipping her head away from Mars to look at where her daughter was trying to manage the demon gator. Her head whipped around so fast, that her hair actually slapped against Mars's face. She watched in horror as Sailor ChibiMoon somehow managed to continue holding onto the gator's mouth while being repeatedly bashed into everything near the gator. Moving like the wind, Sailor Moon returned to her feet and headed towards the demon. 

"Hey you there your play time is over." Sailor Moon called getting its attention. 

Sailor Moon's challenge halted ChibiMoon's roller coaster ride. Tuxedo-Kamen who until now had been unable to help his future daughter, was finally able to get the Alligator's attention with his roses. For the gator, focusing on Tuxedo-Kamen was a fatal move, as it gave Sailor Moon the opportunity she needed to dust it with the power of her Moon Scepter. 

Getting up ChibiMoon shook her body out. "Ooh that was not fun." She said knowing that she was going to have plenty of bruises when she got home tonight.

* * *

"Oops… I guess that was a bit much." Uranus commented after her attack knocked both Sailor Moon and Mars down. "Though it at least accomplished its task and maybe will encourage our princess not to let her guard down in the future."

Neptune shook her head slightly at her partners attempt to once again put overdoing something into a positive perspective. "Though next time lets try to avoid overdoing it."

"Hai." Uranus readily agreed, especially since she was feeling a bit winded from giving that much of herself into that last attack. 

With the demon Alligator destroyed, Venus, Jupiter and Mercury were able to focus exclusively on the snake demon. Unfortunately, for them, it stubbornly clung onto its remaining life, refusing to die. The attacks of the Guardian Soldiers battered it, but by themselves were insufficient to take it out.

"What does it take to kill one of these things?" Jupiter asked out of frustration when another one of her attacks only managed to stun the demon.

The stunning did have a benefit though, as it allowed Mercury to finally catch the demon snake with her Aqua Illusion. And this time Sailor Mars, who had just joined the group, was not going to be so nice as to release it liked she had with the demon gator.

"Now that its on ice, its time for a planet attack." commanded Venus. The other three quickly gathered into a ring with her and they began channeling their energies. When it had built to a sufficiently level, they unleashed their combined power turning the demon into nothing more than dust. All that was left was a cracked crystal egg that quickly turned black before becoming dust itself.

"There are no more Droid signatures in the area." Mercury announced after scanning the park to make sure they hadn't missed one.

"Finally" was all Jupiter had to say as she let herself collapse to the ground while the rest of the group gathered around and also did the same.

"Is everyone okay?" Sailor Moon asked.

A chorus of yeses was returned, except for Jupiter who had to admit to having a nasty wolf bite on her upper arm. Thanks to the magic of their warrior forms she currently did not feel any pain, however she knew that once she returned to her civilian form she was going to be in agony. Plus the wound needed to be cleaned and bandaged. But right now while they took a breather, it was time to discuss the latest attack.

"Okay what just happened here, this is nothing like our previous battles. Is this a new enemy?" Venus asked.

"No that was a Droid that we faced, though a far superior version than previous ones." Mercury replied.

"And that new witch also has the same down turned black crescent moon that Rubeus has." Uranus said from where she reclining.

"That mark is the crest of Nemesis." ChibiUsa added.

"Well then I guess we can safely assume that this is indeed Rubeus, he has just found a lackey to carry out his missions. Now he doesn't need to get involved himself." Uranus said.

"Though considering the stronger Droid we just faced, it is very possible that she may be his superior or replacement. The succeeding Dark Kingdom generals we fought were each marked by an escalation of the conflict. And we were not the ones to finally defeat either Jadeite or Nephrite." Mercury suggested.

"That's true." Mars agreed, finding some comfort in the possibility of Rubeus having been eliminated. "In any case, it is a good thing that we resolved the situation with Ail and Ann when we did. Having this and those attacks still occurring…" The others just nodded their agreement with what Mars was saying, all realizing how overwhelmed they would have been.

"Where are all the people?" Sailor Moon asked. "Both Rubeus, the Dark Kingdom generals, and Ail and Ann all targeted busy areas for their energy gathering."

"Usagi's right." Mars agreed.

"This attack was directed against a single person, a middle aged man." Mercury explained. "They have changed their strategy. Instead of draining a large group of people slightly, they are now taking all the life force from a single person. My scans from earlier indicated that there is tremendous energy in the crystal that this creates, however it is lethal for the victim."

This explanation caused Sailor Moon, Venus, Mars, ChibiMoon, and Tuxedo-Kamen to all gasp with horror. "Is he …" Sailor Moon began to ask, having trouble bringing herself to say dead.

"Iie, Uranus and I were able to retrieve his Pure Heart Crystal and return it to him. He seemed to have fully recovered, I believe he quickly left the area after recovering while we were fighting those final few demons." Neptune replied.

"Pure Heart Crystals, interesting name for it, how did you come with that name?" Tuxedo-Kamen asked.

"Don't know, I guess some recovered memory from the Silver Millennium." Neptune lied. Unfortunately, she could not tell them the truth, as that would raise too many questions and get the princess and the Guardian Soldiers involved in her and Uranus's mission. And with the sacrifices that were going to have to be made, it was far better to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission. Then seeing people begin to wander towards where they were sitting, Neptune added, "I think its time for us to make ourselves scarce."

"Hai," agreed the others. Mercury additionally added, "Also Jupiter needs to get her arm bandaged."

With a quick post-mortem of the battle taken care of the Soldiers quickly dispersed back to where they had been in the city. Jupiter headed to Ami's house to be bandaged up, while Mercury found some cover to return to her civilian form for a few minutes, as she needed to collect their picnic stuff before following. Unfortunately, for Makoto it looked like she was going to get to spend the afternoon having her arm patched up instead of visiting the botanical gardens.

* * *

Professor Tomoe looked up from his work as Kaolinite returned. The little light that existed in his laboratory reflected of his glasses making them look like they were glowing as he regarded his assistant. "I am guessing that you were not successful?"

"Hai, the Sailor Senshi managed to get the better of me. However, the Heart Crystal I had found was not a carrier of a Talisman either."

"Better luck with our next target then." Tomoe replied after, which he chuckled to himself. Then gesturing with his arm, he said, "And the loss of the tool is no problem, as we have plenty more. Next time, though I think I will have to make some improvements. Maybe some armor might help it."

**

*          *          *          *          *

**

End Notes:

Well finally a nice short little chapter. Some simple clean action, no Hotaru almost blowing up the Earth or the like :). Now to just figure out ideas for the rest of the demons till its time to bring this adventure to an end. Had thought I was going to get this chapter out just a few weeks after the last one, as it was quickly writing itself. But then unfortunately real life intruded when I was wrapping up the chapter and well you can see the result. Though, on the positive note it was a series of interviews that caused the delay, now just to hope that one of them will become an offer. 


	29. Objects in Motion

The Fragility of Time  
BOOK TWO: "Falling Towards Apotheosis"  
Chapter 29 "Objects in Motion"  
Author: etj4Eagle  
Email: etj4Eagle@yahoo.com  
  
Lasted Edited: 3/29/03

Disclaimer: A reminder I own none of the characters of this story, all rights are owned by others. However, the unique circumstances of the story are mine. If you distribute the story, do only so freely and inform me of where you post it.

* * *

Chapter 29 "Ojects in Motion" 

Disclaimer: A reminder I own none of the characters of this story, all rights are owned by others. However, the unique circumstances of the story are mine. If you distribute the story, do only so freely and inform me of where you post it.

_______________________________________

With the ringing of the bell, Usagi quickly packed her books away. It was Friday afternoon, and like all the other students with the exception of Ami, she was ready bolt and put as much distance between herself and the school. Unfortunately, she had detention this afternoon, a fact that she when Haruna moved to block her path.

"Did you forget that you had detention this afternoon?" Haruna-sensei asked Usagi as the girl stopped her dash to the door.

"Oh yeah…" Usagi grumpily mumbled as she turned around and headed back to her desk. "Detention on Friday, totally unfair." She whined under her breath.

"What was that you said?" Haruna sharply asked, having heard Usagi

"Nothing Haruna-sensei." Usagi said as she sat down. _Just great, I didn't even do anything to deserve detention today. I got to school on time and even had my homework done. All I did was accidentally knock a book on the floor during class and I get hit with detention. She probably had a date bail on her and decided to take it out on me, so unfair._ Focused on mentally complaining about the unfairness of her detention, she missed Haruna opening a window to let Luna in. 

 "Now take out your notebook Usagi-chan, so we can get started on your lessons." Luna said.

Surprised by Luna's presence, Usagi asked "Luna what are you doing here?" while her cat hopped up onto her teacher's desk.

"Luna-san and I have been talking," hearing that Usagi dropped her head knowing that nothing good could come out of any explanation that started that way. "And have decided that you need more studies, you are a princess after all.

"On the moon you received extensive lessons from an early age that prepared you in diplomacy and other affairs of state in preparation of your ascension to the throne at age 20. Unfortunately, unlike the others, whose fighting skills are ingrained in their souls, you have to relearn all you lessons and you are already 14. Additionally except for title, you are now the Queen of the Silver Millennium." Luna added.

"But Luna, the Siler Millennium is no more. We and the others are the only survivors of it."

"That may be true, but remember that we already know that you will resurrect the Moon Kingdom. Furthermore, there are other empires out there in the galaxy. Following your final battle with Ail and Ann, I remembered about the Moon Kingdom's dealing with star systems across the galaxy. The reawakening of the power of the Silver Millennium will not go unnoticed for long and others will be drawn here and it fall upon you to negotiate with them on behalf of the Earth."

"Me? What about the nations and their leaders."

"Do you ever wonder why the others are princesses of their respective planets? A Sailor Senshi by her very nature can't help but to protect her people and can never be tainted by evil. There has never been any case of a Sailor Senshi with a tainted soul and it is because of this that people the galaxy over trusted the ultimate rule of their planets to their guardian Sailor Senshi."

"The are other Sailor Senshi?"

"Hai, there are. While not every world is protected by a Sailor Senshi, many are. And where there are Sailor Senshi, they are universally recognized as speaking for their planets. Of all the systems, ours is actually unique, in that the Sailor Senshi are subservient to another, the line of Serenity. 

As Luna paused for a moment in her explanation, Haruna took a moment to chide her student, "Usagi-chan why aren't you taking notes??

Usagi wanted to argue that she hadn't yet agreed that she needed this training. But she knew that look that Haruna was giving her and pulled out her notebook. It was a look of "do this or I will stop being lenient with your other detentions."

While Usagi was pulling out her notebook, Luna searched her memories to try to get her own lessons from long ago straight. Seeing that Usagi now had a notebook out and had finished jotting down what she had just explained, she decided to continue her explanation. "Lets see how well I remember my ancient history lessons of the forming of the Silver Millennium. The Moon Kingdom was created by a group of settlers, who created the Sailor Senshi of this system. How I don't know, but in the process the Ginzuishou was created. At first, not much was thought of this artifact and following their leader's death, the plan was for the Sailor Senshi to elect one of their own to lead the colonists.

"However about fifty years after they arrived, General Serenity gave birth to a child, a silver haired girl Misako, though she had taken no lover. Examination of the child found that she was a perfect clone of her mother. Then on the 20th birthday of the new child, General Serenity was absorbed into the Ginzuishou. This caused much debate amongst the Sailor Council. The debate raged for ten years until one of them came to see the Ginzuishou as the birth of another Sailor Soldier, a Sailor Moon in essence. On that day, it was decided that the Misako would be crown queen of the fledgling Moon Kingdom and that as long as each queen gave birth to a clone princess, her line would continue to rule. On her 31st birthday Misako was crowed Queen Serenity the First."

Usagi jotted down notes as to what Luna was saying, finding herself quite interested in learning about the formation of the Moon Kingdom. While she definitely did not approve of this apparent divine right to rule that she had, one that went even above the normal Sailor Soldier divine right, she couldn't really argue with Luna's logic. Admitting her defeat, Usagi said, "Hai I guess you are right."

"That's good, now lets get started." Haruna said. "We are going to begin by examining various current and recent past events and look at the international relationships that are involved. You will need to read these books." Haruna said as she moved a stack of texts from her desk to Usagi's. "Luna knows which chapters you will need to read for each day. But for right now we are going to learn about the different forms of government."

Responding to Usagi raising her hand, Luna asked "Yes, Usagi-chan what is it?"

"How long are these extra lessons going to be?"

"We will be starting out at 90 minutes each day." Luna replied, to which Usagi just slumped in her chair seeing her day vanish completely into schoolwork. "Of course should Sailor Moon be needed, you will be excused for that. 

Luna had only just finished answering Usagi's question when the door to the classroom opened. Usagi looked over, hoping to find salvation from these extra lessons. Seeing that it was her daughter, she asked, "ChibiUsa what are you doing here?"

"Diana said that I needed to come here."

"Like I said earlier, a princess is taught these studies from an early age. Therefore ChibiUsa will be joining you in these afternoon sessions."

"Nani-ka! You mean I have more schooling?" ChibiUsa exclaimed.

"Hai." Haruna-sensei replied. "It is a pleasure to have the opportunity to teach you along with you mother. Now why don't you take a seat next to Usagi, ChibiUsa-chan,"

* * *

Happy that it was Friday, Rei walked down the street. Turning a corner, the steps leading up to the Hikawa shrine and her home became visible. Only a few more blocks away and she would be back home. She had been feeling uneasy all day and seeing the entrance to the shrine lessoned that uneasiness. She was not sure what was bothering her. She hoped that the Sacred Fire would be able to tell her.

Effortlessly reaching the top of the steps, she saw her grandfather attempting to woo a gaggle of schoolgirls. Any other day she would have headed right over there to knock some sense and decorum into him. But not today, her unease was bothering her too much and she was fearful that it might have something to do with Usagi. Ever since that first vision of the future shattering, she had been hypersensitive to anything that might indicate a threat to Usagi.

Thinking about how hypersensitive she was at times, caused Rei to smirk as she remembered a scene from a couple of days ago. Shingo and his friends had apparently found some place that sold fortune cookies that contained cruses instead of the normal fortunes and of course, given his sister's appetite for any kind of food, this was a perfect joke to play on her. He had left a couple of the cookies out where she could find them, and as expected, when she did, she ate them. Later at their Sailor meeting, Usagi had whined about the bad fortunes that the cookies had given her. Jumping to conclusions, she had immediately attempted to remove the curses from Usagi, which involved amongst other things dousing her in water and covering her in ofuda.

Only the combined efforts of Minako and Makoto had saved Usagi from any more of her help. While those two attempted to restrain and talk sense into her, Ami checked on a very confused Usagi. ChibiUsa of course had been utterly useless in her mother's defense, instead having collapsed to the floor in laughter. Later they learned that the little girl had known about Shingo's little prank. After getting Usagi some dry clothes to put on she had apologized for overreacting, an apology of course which descended into a tongue war.

Reaching her room, Rei put away her satchel and changed out of her school uniform. Now clad in the traditional shrine robes, she headed to the main shrine building and the sacred fire. Entering the room, she headed over to the fire. After stoking life back into it, she took a seat on the ground and began her meditation and chants. The power of her planet quickly entered her body and from her fed the fire, telling it her wants and desires. Knowing what its Mistress desired, the flames flared even higher, however Rei as usual did not notice. Instead, her mind was now inside of the fire seeing the images that it laid out before her.

_Unlike previous visions, this time she could feel the heat of the fire as it surrounded mind. However, that was not quite correct Rei realized, it was not the flames of the Sacred Fire that she was feeling, but instead the world itself was burning. Looking around, she guessed that the wasteland that she found herself in was once Tokyo, though it was only the lay of the land that suggested that, as everything else lay in smoldering ruins. Noticing some objects off in the distance, she began walking towards them. Walking through the arid air of this wasteland was unpleasant, but before long Rei got close enough to get a good look at what appeared to be statues, statues of each of the other Sailor Senshi. Though as she looked more closely at them, she realized that they weren't statues but her friends turn to stone._

_That realization made her shiver with horror, however as she did so, she realized that her friends had all been staring at something when they were turned to stone. Turning to follow the direction of their gaze, she scanned the horizon to she what had drawn their attention. At first, she did not see anything, but then after a bit three hovering lights became visible. Initially the lights were dim, but they quickly grew in intensity till they blinded her to everything else. But then from one moment to the next, they simply vanished and Rei's eyes attempted to adjust to the return of near darkness. When she could finally see again in the dim red light, Rei saw that a figure now stood where the lights had been. _

_Straining her eyes to make out the stranger's details, she saw what looked to possibly be a young woman holding some kind of staff. Taking a step towards this person, she was forced to stop when a strong wind suddenly picked up. Turning her head to brace herself, she turned back towards the stone forms of her friends. As she did so, she was just in time to see them shatter into a million pieces and those pieces shatter again and again until nothing but dust remained._

"IIE!" cried Rei in both the vision and real life. Snapping out of her vision, Rei slowly became aware of her surroundings, while her lungs greedily pulled in the relatively cooler air of the fire room. Effected by the vision, the only thought on Rei's mind was placing physical distance between herself and that hellish vision. Getting up, Rei quickly left the shrine room.

Needing to calm her mind and body from the effects of that vision, Rei stopped by the storeroom on her way out to get a broom. Walking outside she began sweeping the leaves, letting the methodical work of her chores guide her in her calming exercises. Absently she thanked Kami that there were no visitors currently and that her grandfather had apparently gone back inside. She did not feel like having to deal with others right now and she definitely did not want her grandfather prying into what was troubling her.

Before long, her chores had calmed Rei sufficiently that she ready to begin analyzing her vision. One that that immediately struck her, was how drastically different a vision it was than those of the future shattering. As it was, she was still no closer to deciphering what those visions were warning them of. Somehow, she felt it was something far beyond the threat that Rubeus posed. And it frustrated it greatly that she hadn't been able to learn anything to help the one who meant the world to her.

Feeling her frustrations rising, Rei broke off that train of thought and returned to analyzing the current vision. The danger while bad, an Armageddon in itself, it felt less severe than those of that previous set of visions. That meant, that the danger it posed was a very immediate one. Somehow, the enemy's attempt to collect pure heart crystals was tied to this pending Armageddon. Rei, hoped that Ami might have some ideas, something that would help her make sense of these images.

* * *

A pair of teenagers sat at a table in the back of the library, though one would be hard pressed to see the second teenager given that the table was covered with massive stacks of books, some a meter tall. Or actually only half covered, as Ryo's side of the table only had a couple of books on it, his science book, a couple of reference books and his notebook. 

Finishing the problem that he was working on, he put down his pencil and leaned back before stretching a bit. Deciding that it was time for a break from his work, he looked through the one gap on the table to the blue haired girl who sat on the other side. He had to admit that she looked very cute right now in those reading glasses of hers. Smiling at that thought he committed the scene he saw in front of him to memory. 

Thinking about how cute she looked in those reading glasses, also caused another thought to surface: why she even needed reading glasses in the first place. When he had first admired her from a distance and only knew she was Sailor Mercury through his visions, he had no problem with her needing them. But now having learned of the miraculous healing abilities of the Sailor Senshi and having some understanding of their powers, he thought that being a Sailor Senshi should have taken care of any deficiency that might develop in her vision. Thinking about it some more, he thought that her powers sleeping until this past year could explain why she had developed the need for reading glasses, though not why she still needed them. For as to why she still needed them, the best he could guess at was that when her powers activated they took her current condition as the baseline condition.

Finishing his reasoning, Ryo realized that he was still staring at Ami. And that she had noticed as well. She hadn't said anything, instead probably even tried to focus in on the text she was reading even more so, but the bright blush on her face was ample evidence that she had indeed noticed. Reaching across the table, he took a hold of one of her hands, gaining her attention. As she looked up from her book, his eyes caught hers and he smiled, which earned him one in return.

"While you are quite beautiful studying as you are, all these book you have on the table have me worried. There must be at least ten times your weight in books on this table, what if the table gives."

Ami just smiled even more to that worry. "Ryo-chan don't worry, this is a very durable hardwood table, capable of taking far more weight than is already on it." Seeing the surprise on Ryo's face, she continued. "I guess your gift doesn't tell you anything about the past, a little over a year ago I actually broke one of their regular tables with all my books."

"Nani-ka" Ryo replied, surprised by that revelation, though given the amount of books she would go through during her intensive study periods, he realized that something like that was bound to happen.

"Yep, it was quite embarrassing. It was extremely loud, especially given the normally silent nature of the library. I was sure that the librarians were going to throw me out and ban me from ever returning. Instead they just chuckled a bit and told me to not worry about it and then a few weeks later I found they had replaced the table I had destroyed with this one."

Looking at the book she was currently studying he realized that it was not a text for any school assignment or project, probably then something Sailor related. Curious he asked, "So what has you interest so peaked that you needed to transfer the library's collection to this table?"

"Starting last week the enemy substantially changed their strategy. They have gone from stealing energy from a large group of people to stealing a single victim's life force. When they do this they extract a glowing crystal from the victim's chest." Ami began. Then continuing, Ami said, "It's this attempt to steal their victim's life force in its entirety that has me worried. Going this route verse the normal group energy drains is far more risky, as it becomes an all or nothing operation. There has to be some benefit to possessing a pure heart crystal other than just energy. And that is what I have been searching for. 

Ryo nodded his understanding. He wished that his gift could give Ami some help, but unfortunately, the premonitions were rarely of anything more than a few moments into the future. Well except for exam studying, but that was because his mental approach to studying was very similar to what is required for going into battle and consequently activated his gift.

"Have you found anything of help?" Ryo asked

"I have come across some things that might be useful, descriptions of Blood Magic."

"Blood Magic?"

"Yep." Ami replied. "Apparently it is a very ancient form of magic and can be quite powerful, particularly in that it gives even the weakest mages moments of massive power. This form of magic is based on sacrificing an object and in so doing turning the less intrinsic elements of its value into energy. At its extreme the practitioner will kill a person, often young virgins, to gain a moment of immense power."

Listening to Ami describe blood magic, Ryo frowned. The thought of harvesting energy this way gave Ryo a sick feeling to his stomach, partially because her description hit very close to home. His kind had used a similar, though non-magical, method of increasing their own power, by using captured prisoners as substrates to grow their tools and weapons.

"However, I don't think this is what they are doing here," Ami continued. "Even given the immense power contained in these crystals, it doesn't make sense strategy-wise to go after them, given that it is an all or nothing operation. It makes far more sense for them to just drain a hundred people for a few minutes to get the same net effect." As Ami said that last part she picked up a pad of graph paper and turned it around so that Ryo could see it, on it she had graphed the number of people and the length of time they needed to be drained to equal the energy contained in one pure heart crystal.

Seeing that graph convinced Ryo that it was definitely time for Ami to take a break. While he knew intellectually that that calculation that Ami had done was important for them to figure out the enemy's ultimate goal, the frankness of the graph still revolted the human part of his soul.  Not saying anything, he quickly packed away his bags and then stood up.

"Come on, that's sufficient work for this afternoon." Ryo said to a confused Ami, while at the same time reaching out and taking the pad of paper she held in her hand and placing it down on the table. After which he then walked around the table and took her hand in his, encouraging her to stand up as well. 

As she got up, Ami wanted to object. They still had a good half hour or so before they needed head over to meet Rei. And if they took the rooftops, they could stay even longer. However, looking into Ryo's eyes instantly killed off that idea, as he the same look in his eyes that Usagi got when she would not be argued out of a position. Giving into the futility of disagreeing, Ami took a few moments to pack away her notes before walking out with Ryo.

Leaving the library, Ryo took Ami's hand in his own and the two of them proceeded to enjoy the late afternoon sun while taking a leisurely walk towards the Hikawa shrine.

* * *

Kaolinite watched as Tomoe worked on a giant contraption that he had been building in the lab over the past few days. All she knew about it was that it was supposed to fix "a design flaw" in the crystal daimons so that the Sailor Senshi wouldn't be able to defeat them. Thankfully the professor agreed that there was a problem with the crystal daimons and that it was not her fault that the Sailor Senshi were preventing her from capturing any heart crystals, as Rubeus was very displeased with her progress. He really shouldn't be that upset, after all none of those Pure Heart Crystals contained any of the Talismans, so it really didn't matter that the Sailor Senshi had retrieved them. But he never let her point that out.

"All finished" came the triumphant declaration from the professor as he put his tools down and crawled out from under the Daimon Incubator. "This is my finest invention yet, even better than my Stargate. With this device, we will be able to create crystal daimons far stronger than any you have created before. While they are already fierce creatures, they can also be even more powerful, as Daimon eggs can merge with more than one substrate. And with this machine of mine we will be able to do that." The professor said while widely gesturing at the device and ending with a fit of laughter.

_Yes, that is what I need._ thought Kaolinite. _With these enhanced daimons, the Sailor Senshi won't stand a chance._

"The crystal daimons as they exist already have more than enough power to destroy the Sailor Senshi. The Sailor Senshi have only been able to beat them, because they have been able to wear them down. Consequently, what the daimons need is some more armor and this hard hat will be perfect" The professor said as he picked up the hard hat that had been lying on the table.

_Okay…_ thought Kaolinite, barely avoiding falling to the ground with the professor's very anticlimactic announcement of using a hard hat to give the Daimon more armor. _How about maybe a Kevlar vest, or something with some combat strength._ Kaolinite wondered, her confidence in the professor dropping a fair bit. _I just hope this works for my sake._

Ready to use the Incubator for the first time, the Professor opened the chamber door and added the hard hat. Then walking over to a reinforced container that sat against one of the walls, he opened it up and removed a droid crystal. Carefully closing the box, he walked back and added the crystal to the machine as well. 

As the professor placed the crystal into the machine, Kaolinite asked, "How many of those droid crystals do we have left?"

"Just 12 of them now. Too bad Rubeus doesn't know anything about their manufacture, as I am sure I could make more of them. But without some help, I can't risk using any of these valuable crystals for research." Tomoe replied. And then turning to regard Kaolinite, while the overhead lights reflected off his glasses so that they obscured his eyes he said, "And make sure you don't waste any more of these."

Following that declaration, Tomoe turned to walk over to one of the lab tables, where the nascent daimon eggs were stored, his mood returning to its normal cheerful mad scientist-self. Selecting one of the vials, he picked it up and examined it in the light. Satisfied he returned and poured its contents over the two other objects in the Incubator. With his closing of the machine's door, it activated. Then thirty seconds later the machine fell silent with the dinging of what could only be described as a dinner bell.

On one side of the machine, a conveyer belt extended away and with the dinging of the bell, the conveyer activated. Figuring that this is where the new daimon would be delivered, Kaolinite walked over to collect her tool. Seeing a large metal briefcase emblazed with a black star emblem roll out on the conveyer belt, Kaolinite reached out and picked it up. Ready to begin her next mission, Kaolinite turned and walked out of the room. However, she had only gotten a few steps before Tomoe called to her. 

"Hold on a moment, with the daimon now contained inside that briefcase till its release you are going to need a new way to find the carriers of the Talismans. This device will point them out to you." Tomoe said as he handed her the daimon Compass. "The device uses a daimon Egg to locate those of pure hearts. Since it does use a daimon egg, it can be activated as well to create a generation one daimon." The professor's voice turned icy again as he gave her the final helpful hint, letting her know very clearly that she would do best to make sure she returned with all three Talismans should she need to use the compass in that manner.

* * *

Rei finished up the last of her chores as the afternoon sun graced the horizon. She was still troubled by her vision from earlier that afternoon and was wondering what to make of it. Putting the broom away, she decided that she would put it out of her mind for the evening and deal with it tomorrow at the meeting. This was a Friday night and Friday nights were meant to be spent out enjoying yourself with your friends, not worrying about visions of Armageddon. 

Walking back outside she decided to just stand out on the grounds and enjoy the warm evening and the invigorating smell of nature that was on the wind that night. Glancing at her watch, she noted that Ami and Urawa would be arriving in about fifteen minutes, assuming that they did not get distracted by their studying. After those two arrived, the three of them would head out, stopping by Juuban Junior High School to pick up Usagi.

Rei chuckled a bit, imaging the scene that Usagi must have made this morning when Luna told her that she had been talking to Haruna-Sensei and that the two of them had put together a program to work on her training as a princess. Poor Usagi, while the rest of them innately remembered how to be warriors, she had received no training in that department in her past life, yet at the same time was most crucial of them all in battle given her powers. And then to top it all off, the memories of the one area that she did receive training in, did not transfer at all to the present. As much as Rei wanted to see Usagi take her studies seriously, she did feel that having these extra lessons on a Friday afternoon was cruel and unusual punishment. She guessed that if any of Usagi's classmates learned of her staying after this late today they would have just chalked it up to Haruna-sensei getting dumped on a date for the weekend. In some ways, she guessed that Usagi having a teacher who was known to be moody was a good thing.

Heavy breathing alerting Rei to a guest ended her mind's wanderings. Even before she turned to see the newcomer, she knew that it wasn't Ami and Urawa as both of those two could easily jog up the steps without any heavy breathing. Absently she wondered for a moment if anything could make Urawa breath heavy given that he was no longer human. Now facing the guest, Rei smiled warmly as she walked over to great the new arrival.

"Welcome to the Hikawa shrine, how my I help you?" Rei politely asked.

"Ah yes you are the one that I am long for. Your heart is infinitely pure and must contain one of the talismans. Now give it too me!" the last bit Kaolinite exclaimed as she threw off her full-length coat, revealing her Witches 5 outfit. Then dropping down to her knees, she placed the briefcase on the ground and unlatched it. Stepping back, she watched as a demon spirit escaped and quickly formed into the Crystal Daimon.

Stunned by the sudden actions of this guest, Rei failed to throw herself out of harms way in the few seconds of time she had. Instead, she watched as Kaolinite unleashed the demon and by the time she realized that she was in trouble, the Daimon was already advancing on her. Backing away from the Daimon, Rei moved to run, but the Daimon snaked out its hands and grabbed a hold of her. Trapped, Rei watched helplessly as a black star on the top of its head began to glow.

As the dark energy from the star reached out to her body, she could feel her energy begin to drain away. While mild at first, the pain very quickly escalated into shear agony as it felt like her insides were going to be ripped away from the rest of her body. Not a very inaccurate description of what was happening. She tried to use her training as a priestess to fight the stealing of her soul, but the Daimon was too strong. Instead, she felt her world go black as the last of her life energy was removed from her body. Finished the Daimon released her comatose barely living body, letting it fall to the ground.

* * *

Ami and Ryo were walking up the steps of the shrine when Ryo suddenly froze, no longer seeing with his eyes but his gift. The flash of the future only lasted for a moment but he saw Sailor Mars being killed and then a second flash of the future, which showed just Sailor Uranus and Neptune and for some reason caused him to feel a barely controlled desire to rip the two of them two shreds.

"Ryo-kun what is it?" Ami worriedly asked.

"Rei, she is in trouble." Responded Ryo as his body began absorbing all light that fell on it, blurring into his true form. Ami quickly followed Ryo's lead, becoming Sailor Mercury though in a flash of light as opposed to Ryo's darkness. Then regarding Sailor Mercury with his twenty-four eyes, he said, "I'll see to Rei."

"Hai," agreed Sailor Mercury. Then turning to face of the remaining steps once again, she quickly bounded up them. Unfortunately, she arrived just in time to see Rei's body collapse limply to the ground. The horror of that sight caused her to scream out "IIE!" Then a few moments later as she regained control of her emotions she turned to regard Kaolinite and said, "Hold it right there! How dare you desecrate this holy place. For this transgression, on behalf of the planet Mercury I will punish you!"

Mercury's scream had drawn the attention of Kaolinite, and she had been annoyed to find that a Sailor Senshi had already arrived. But that annoyance quickly turned to satisfaction as she realized that the blue haired soldier was the only one here. "Only one of you? You think that you yourself will be able to stop me when your whole group can barely stop my crystal daimons?" Kaolinite taunted. "While getting just one of you seems a waste of the daimon's efforts, I won't complain. Crystal Daimon Hard Hat kill her."

Knowing that without out the others present she wasn't in a good tactical position, Mercury moved quickly to try to control the pace of the battle and cast her Shine Aqua Illusion spell even before Kaolinite had commanding the demon to kill her. But to her horror, the spell just harmlessly dispersed upon hitting the creature's shell.

Shocked by the complete and utter ineffectiveness of her attack, Mercury forgot to move. Taking advantage of its opponent's mistake, the demon charged Mercury. Realizing the need to move only moments before being hit, Mercury didn't have time to do anything than to bring her arms down in an attempt to protect her chest. The move would have helped had the demon not been aiming even lower, at her stomach.

Catching her unprotected belly with its head, the daimon caused Mercury to forcibly exhale while knocking her backward. Only having started to fall from the attack, the blue haired warriors body was hit by a second attack, one that continued to pound in her for a few seconds knocking her even further backwards. However, to Ami the two attacks blurred into just one intense moment of pain as she fell over backwards. Unfortunately, for the Ice Warrior, she had made her stand not far from the top of the shrine's stairs and the demon's attacks had knocked her backwards. So far backwards, that as she caught sight of the street below Mercury realized that she had been knocked off the hill. She did not have long to ponder that thought before her back impacted the stairs and then she proceeded to painfully fall the rest of the way down, only coming to a stop when she slammed into a parked car.

* * *

Seeing the Daimon easily take care of that Sailor Annoyance, Kaolinite walked forward to collect the Pure Heart Crystal from where the demon had left it. _This mission is going quite well, Rubeus will be quite pleased to learn that I have taken out Sailor Mercury._ However, her self-congratulations were a bit early, as was made apparent by the appearance of a second demon.

Given her line of work, Kaolinite thought that nothing could scare her, but this creature did. It was some kind of humanoid insect with black skin and the two rows of six eyes on each side of its head that glowed an intense white. Primal fear routed her feet to the ground and prevented her from calling out for help from her own demon. Helplessly she watched as this creature knelt down to pick up the unconscious shrine girl and then reached out to grab the Pure Heart Crystal. It was not till the creature had almost reached the other side of the courtyard that she found herself able to think clearly.

"Don't even think of giving chase to that Pure Heart Crystal." declared another, who punctuated her statement with a glowing yellow ball of energy that smashed into the ground inches in front of where she was standing. Turning to glare at the newest interloper, Kaolinite found the situation quickly escalating out of control.

* * *

Escaping behind one of the shrine buildings, Ryo placed Rei down on the ground. Even though he knew the fear that his true form instilled in others, he was still a bit surprised that the witch had not given any chase, though he wondered how long that would last. With Rei down on the ground, he took a moment to examine the Pure Heart Crystal, hoping that his gift might tell him what the enemy wanted with it, but nothing came. Now ready to return the crystal back to Rei, he was stopped by Sailor Neptune.

"Hold it there Urawa-san, hand me the crystal." the aqua-haired warrior declared.

Startled by her voice, he looked up and saw that he was no longer alone. "This is Rei's life force, I need to return it to her." he said

"I know it is, but it may be much more. Now hand it over to me." Neptune demanded while walking up next to him. "If you don't then I will attack intruder."

This time Ryo's gift activated and he was able to see the sincerity in Neptune's statement. This was his last warning, if he did not give her the crystal in ten seconds she would blast him at point blank range with her Deep submerge. He might be strong, but he wasn't that strong. Either way she was going to get the crystal, at least this way the team would remain whole for now and more importantly Ami wouldn't be anguished. Giving in, he let his form return to its humon form upon which he nodded his accent and then held the crystal out to her.

"Thank you." replied Neptune as she took the crystal and examined it, peering into its interior looking for a talisman.

* * *

Flung down to street level, Mercury had come to rest against a parked car. At first she did not move, instead just staring blankly at the sky. Then slowly she began to become aware of her surrounding again. The first sensation was of how cold and hard the ground was. Unfortunately, following quickly on the heel of that came intense pain. _Owe, what happened?_ Mercury thought, her mind finally able to put thoughts together. As she tried to remember how she got on the ground, her eyes caught sight of the top of the Hikawa Shrine's gateway. _Hikawa Shrine? What am I doing here?_ An even more confused Mercury thought. But even has her mind thought those questions; the answers flooded back and with them the energy to return to her feet.

Not quite ready to jump back to her feet, Mercury instead rolled away from the car and lifted herself onto all fours. Unfortunately, while she had the desire, her body had taken more of a pounding than she realized. That little movement proved to be even too much for her injured body to take and she found herself coughing up blood. Not willing to give up, Rei needed her help, Ami focused all of her planetary energy into giving her body the strength to fight. The pain of her wounds vanishing, Sailor Mercury was able to return to her feet, only to see that the demon had reached the bottom of the stairs.

The daimon took only a moment to locate its prey and charged the blue haired warrior for a second time. This time knowing what to expect, Mercury leapt out of the way. Landing on the roof of a car on the other side of the street, she had to wince at the damage the daimon did to the car she had been standing in front of. Taking advantage of the momentary advantage she had while the daimon extracted itself from the remains of the smashed car, she summoned another Shine Aqua Illusion.

To her horror, the spell that left her hands was a fraction of its normal size and it splashed harmlessly against the side of the daimon. While it was more powerful than ChibiMoon's Pink Sugar Heart Attack, it was not by much. _This is not good._ thought Mercury. And then analyzing the situation further, she concluded, _I must be using so much energy to keep myself going that I don't have any to spare for attacks._

With that realization, Mercury knew that she could no longer hope to control the momentum of the battle. Instead, the best that she could hope for was to minimize the damage and keep the demon occupied while she waited for the others to arrive. _I just hope that Ryo-chan is able to save Rei._ thought Mercury. Then noticing that the demon was preparing to charge her yet again, Mercury got ready to leap out of the way again. 

As Mercury kept the attention of the daimon, she thought, _At least this demon doesn't seem to have any attacks other than using its head as a battering ram, so if I stay in the middle of the street I may just be able to keep it from damaging anything else._ Unfortunately after a dozen more of her jumps back and forth along the middle of the street (trying to keep the daimon from hitting anything) she began to feel herself tire. Realizing that she was exhausting even her planetary energy, Mercury knew that she would need to withdraw soon.

Another two jumps and Mercury decided it was time to pull out. Making one final jump out of the way before escaping to the safety of the roof tops, Mercury found she stayed one jump too many. Her timing was off by just enough, that her toe just barely caught the top of the demon's head. While her foot barely touched the demon, it was enough to change her graceful jump, to a painful uncontrolled crash to the ground. All she had time for was to curl up into a ball before hitting the pavement. Then acting on instinct she rolled with the impact and quickly returned to a kneeling position. Looking up she saw that the demon had already turned around and was getting ready to charge her again and this time she knew she could not get out of the way. Deciding to face her end as it came, Ami kept her eyes open to watch the approaching final blow.

"Dead Scream." Mercury's ears barely heard the whisper of salvation, but eyes had no trouble spotting the violet ball of energy, which shot out from a side street. Catching the daimon by surprise, the attack smashed into the daimon and flung it to the ground a half dozen meters away. Leaving the side street, Pluto looked over to Mercury and said, "Sorry about the timing."

Ami smiled at Pluto's attempt at a bad joke before she gave into her body's desires and collapsed down to the ground. As she did so, it almost seemed as if her planet's energy was happy that she was finally allowing it to do what it needed to do.

Regarding the demon, Pluto was not happy with what she saw, as the creature did not appear to be any worse for wear. Instead, all she appeared to have done was get its attention off of Mercury for the moment, which while a good thing wouldn't do her any good if she couldn't kill it. But before she had to worry about dodging one of its attacks, reinforcements arrived with the clicking of three more sets of boots landing on the ground behind her. Taking a quick glance behind she saw that the new arrivals were Jupiter, Venus, and ChibiMoon. 

While Sailor Moon had jumped down along with the other three, she had caught sight of Mercury's crumpled form. Immediately she had spread her wings wide and taken back to the air. Landing now beside her injured friend, she quickly knelt down to see to Ami.

"Ami-chan are you ok?" she asked, fear in her voice.

The blue haired warrior somehow having managed to retain consciousness gave a smile of reassurance to her friend. However, when she tried to speak she found she couldn't without significant effort. Usagi saw that Ami was having trouble speaking and quickly silenced the other girl with a finger on her lips. 

"Not now, just rest." Usagi said. Then seeing that Ami had accepted her advice to remain quiet, Usagi removed her finger.

 "Damn it! Why won't our attacks slow this creature down?" cursed Sailor Jupiter as the demon barreled harmlessly through one of her Thunder Dragons as it charged Venus. 

Hearing Jupiter's curse, Usagi turned to look towards the battle. She looked up just in time to see the demon deflect one of Pluto's Dead Screams into Venus. Usagi winced in sympathy as an unsuspecting Venus was blown backwards. Feeling movement from Ami, Usagi turned her attention back to the blue haired girl. Seeing Ami attempting to sit up, she laid a hand on Ami's shoulder to push her back to the ground. In spite of her weakened state, Ami attempted to shake off that hand. Glimpsing the determination in the other girl's eyes, Usagi relented and instead helped Ami to sit up.

Leaning against Sailor Moon, Mercury summoned her computer and deployed her visor. While she might not be able to fight any more, she still could still make important contributions to this battle. As Ami analyzed her reading, Usagi wanted to ask the girl, if there was anything they could use against this demon. However, at the same time she did not want a repeat of what happened the last time Ami attempted to talk. For the moment, the desire to not hurt Ami any more won out.

Examining her scans intently, Ami did not like what she was seeing. As she feared this creature was heavily armored, none of their attacks were actually doing any damage to it. If that was the case, then what could they do to defeat it? While Sailor Moon was stronger than the others, her Moon Scepter would not be any more effective. About the only thing that would work would be her Moon Tier, but Ami knew that after what happened the last two times, Usagi would refuse to consider that option. Examining her scans yet again, trying to find another option, something caught her eye. A glimmer of hope rising, Ami's fingers flew over the keyboard as she ran more scans and a new set of analysis. Finding the key to defeating this creature, Ami attempted to voice her finding to Usagi. However, like the last time she attempted to speak, she doubled over as her body was wracked by coughs. 

"Mercury don't try to talk. Just conserve your energy. We'll take care of this creature." Usagi said

Shaking her head, Ami forced her body to speak the words that needed to be said. "No you can't. It's too strong, you aren't hurting it at all." Each word that she spoke was a struggle for the injured warrior and she had to take rest a moment after speaking only her second sentence. Knowing that Ami needed to speak what she had figured out, Usagi instead just gently held the other girl to her chest, lending Ami her strength. Getting her breathing back under control, Ami continued, "But if everyone focuses on just one point and one point only, you'll be able to crack its armor."

Usagi continued to hold onto Ami through the bought of coughing that followed, worrying every time Ami spit up some blood. Eventually the coughing began die back down. With Ami's breathing having returned to normal, Usagi laid the other girl back on the ground. Kneeling over Ami, she said, "Now you stay here and rest." Then placing her hands on Ami's chest, the Ginzuishou reacted to her call and flowed a small drop of her energy into Ami. 

As she let Usagi lay her down on the ground, Ami closed her eyes agreeing that it was now time to let her body rest and recover. As a result, she was unaware of what Usagi was doing with the Ginzuishou. But she did feel a sudden warmth that flowed into her body, washing away her troubles and with them her grip on reality. Content, she fell into a deep slumber.

Seeing Sailor Mercury's chest rising and falling now in the slow rhythm of sleep, Usagi gave a sigh of relief. Reassured about her friend for the moment, she returned to her feet and turned to join the battle. With a strong downward beat her wings, she took to the air.

Landing by the others, she called out, "Minna-san! Mercury says we need to focus on hitting the same spot, that is the only way we are going to beat this thing."

"Hai!" the others agreed, feeling energized again as Mercury's plan gave them hope again.

Quickly following Usagi's instructions, Venus and Jupiter and unleashed attacks that hit in the same spot on the demon's head, a spot which was soon hit by Pluto and ChibiMoon and then again by the foursome. While the others continued to attack the demon, Sailor Moon returned to the air, realizing that up there she wouldn't have to worry about dodging the demon's charges. As she hovered in the air waiting for the demon to be weakened enough for her to use her Moon Scepter, Usagi realized that being unchallenged up here she wasn't restricted to just giving the final blow.

Calling upon the power of the Moon, Sailor Moon let the energy she would need for her attack build up within her body. Then when she had enough, she pulled her wings in and quickly dropped down to the ground. With a quick spin, she unleashed her attack. The golden crescent moon smashed into the head of the creature knocking it backwards. As expected, the attack was insufficient to destroy the creature. But as it lay there on the ground, Usagi could see that the armor on its head was now noticeably cracked.

"You go girl!" Venus called out before blasting the creature with one of her Crescent Beams.

"What happened to the wind up?" ChibiMoon asked, wondering if she could eliminate that part from her attack as well and make it slightly less useless.

Usagi smiled in response to that question. "I just realized that even though I am stuck using this weaker attack instead of Moon Tier, I can still make use of the fact that I am now a whole lot stronger than when we were fighting the Dark Kingdom. I can pre-build the energy for my attack if the enemy leaves me alone long enough… Yikes!" the exclamation coming as she realized almost too late that the demon had returned to its feet and was charging her.

Safely back up in the air, she began to build her energy again. Unfortunately this time the demon was not going to let her go unchallenged and instead decided that it was time to show these Sailor Senshi that it did indeed have another attack in addition to just charging its opponents. Bringing up its left arm, Usagi noticed that it was hollow. Not quite realizing what that probably meant, she was taken by surprise when it began shooting rivets at her. The first dozen missed widely, passing low and to her right. However, the demon kept firing and quickly adjusted its aim, raking the sky with its shots. Not reacting fast enough, some of the rivets caught her in the stomach and even worse, some of them punched through her left wing. While the ones that hit her stomach caused intense pain, they held nothing to the sudden burning sensation she felt from the holes that were punched in her wing. No longer able to support her, Usagi's left wing collapsed and she fell out of the sky.

Seeing their princess fall out of the sky, Pluto, Jupiter and Venus screamed, "That does it!" Anger coursing through their blood, the three of them turned on the demon and in concert unleashed their powers. Fueled by anger the attacks they unleashed were already at double strength before they fused into one energy beam, crackling with electricity and temporal energy. The crackling yellow beam smashed into the wounded armor of the demon, flinging it down the street and embedding it in the retaining wall surrounding the hill the Hikawa Shine sits on.

When the daimon had brought up its rivet gun, Tuxedo Kamen left the shadows to take action. Unfortunately, for the first time his roses came too late, the demon had already clipped Sailor Moon's wings before he disabled its gun. Though while he had moved too slowly to save his love from being hit, he was in time to catch the plummeting Sailor Moon. Feeling the warmth of her love's embrace, Usagi opened her eyes and gave him a smile of thanks.

Landing, Tuxedo-Kamen placed Usagi down on her feet. The silver haired girl walked forward ready to end this battle. The burning pain of her punctured wing flowed through her link to Tuxedo-Kamen and to her daughter. Sensing the pain that her mother was feeling, ChibiMoon knew that Sailor Moon would not be able to muster the concentration she needed for her attack with her injury. Walking up beside Sailor Moon she said, "Momma, let me help you." 

Usagi did not need to ask what ChibiMoon meant, looking at her daughter's eyes she could tell that the young girl was referring to the pain caused by her injured wing. She would have said that she was fine, however even as she thought about that she knew that she wouldn't be able to channel the intense power of the Moon with the distraction of her wing. Curious as to how ChibiMoon could help, she summoned her scepter and handed it over.

Given ChibiMoon's short height, the little girl had a slight problem with using the scepter (it would hit the ground on the wind up). ChibiUsa discovered this when she gave the scepter a test swing to get a feel for its weight and whacked it into the ground. "Oops," ChibiUsa said quietly to herself with a slight chuckle. Almost as she said those words, hands lovingly grasped her around her waist and lifted her up onto the top of a nearby car. Turning to look at Sailor Moon, ChibiMoon said, "Arigatoo".

Now that her daughter had sufficient clearance to use the Moon Scepter, only one issue was left: being able to summon the energy necessary to use it. ChibiMoon might be a Sailor Moon in training; however, she could not yet draw more then a little power from the Ginzuishou. Usagi, knew that she would need to provide ChibiMoon with the power to use the Moon Scepter. Placing her hands on her daughter's waist, while resting her head against ChibiMoon's back, Usagi closed her eyes and opened herself up to both the power of the Moon and to her daughter.

ChibiUsa instantly felt the moment her mother created the link, a washing her body in energy. The power was tremendous, she had never imagined that Sailor Moon was this powerful; it truly was the power of legends. As much as she would have liked to explore some more, she knew she had a job to do. Forcing her gaze outwards again, she sighted the demon and then letting instinct guide her, she summoned the power of the Moon. 

She found the power that washed through her body deliciously seductive. As she turned the demon to dust, she found her will to resist the siren call of the even greater power that remained in her mother's body crumbling. Listening to that siren call, she remembered how great it felt to have that all that energy at her command when she was Black Lady and furthermore how much better it would be to have this far greater level of power at her command. A power that was right at her fingertips, all she had to do was reach over and take it. And there was nothing that Sailor Moon could do to prevent her; the foolish girl had not retained any control of this link. 

With every passing moment, the buried part of her that was Black Lady became stronger and stronger and ChibiUsa began to reach across the link looking for the heart of Sailor Moon's power. Once she found that orb of energy in the other girl's soul, she could rightfully take it for herself. With it, she could finally return home and save her mother herself and with that power no one would ever question her lineage ever again.

Thinking about home and the future shattered the siren's spell. The persona of Black Lady lost its hold and vanished. With its departure, she remembered that the threat of Nemesis was now over, that her mother was safe and she was growing again. Not only that, but she was now as Sailor Senshi in training. However on the heal of those happy thoughts, came unhappy knowledge of the current situation.

But as she remembered that Sailor Moon was indeed her mother, the horror of what she almost did began to take over. Rapidly distancing herself from that alluring power, she shattered the link as jumped down off the car and ran off into the distance. Disappearing into an alleyway, she changed back to her civilian form before exiting out the other end and disappearing into the streets of Tokyo.

Focused as the others were on other elements of the battle, only Pluto saw the look of horror that crossed ChibiMoon's face before she vanished. Pluto frowned when she saw that and prayed to the Cosmos that it was not what she thought it was.

Released from her link with ChibiMoon, Sailor Moon collapsed into Tuxedo-Kamen's arms. Adjusting his hold on her, he carried her over to where the others were standing.

Seeing the unconscious Sailor Moon, Jupiter asked, "Is she going to be okay?" 

"Hai, I think so. Though do you know where ChibiMoon disappeared to?"

In response to the question, the others looked around to see where the little girl had disappeared off to. "Don't know, though my guess is she went to get Usagi something to much on when she comes to again." Venus said, knowing the love the two girls felt for each other and that Usagi was probably hurt fairly badly for the two of them to have done what they just did.

Pluto remained quiet, not wanting to voice her suspicions till she knew for sure. Instead she just said, "Unfortunately we can't stand around right now, there is still the issue of Kaolinite."

"Hai" Venus agreed, "Come lets go show that witch what happens when she messes with one of us."

Nodding their agreement, Jupiter and Pluto joined with Venus and dashed up the stairs to the shrine. Tuxedo-Kamen first walked over to where the injured Sailor Mercury lay and placed Usagi down beside the petite warrior. Hoping that the two of them would be okay by themselves, he followed the others up to confront Kaolinite.

* * *

Taking the Pure Heart Crystal from Ryo, Neptune examined it. Finding no indication that it contained one of the talismans, she released a sigh of relief, happy that she wouldn't have to sacrifice Rei's life. Though a part of her was also annoyed that they hadn't yet found any of the talismans.

"There is no talisman contained in this crystal," Neptune said to Ryo as she handed it back to him. "Here return it to Rei and look after her. I am going after Kaolinite."

Getting Rei's life force back from Neptune, Ryo placed the crystal down on the priestess's shirt. As soon as the crystal touched Rei's chest, it slipped back inside of her. Immediately the color of Rei's skin improved and her breathing became strong again. Then a minute later, Rei open her eyes.

"What happened?" a groggy Rei asked.

"Your life energy was stolen by the enemy."

"Guess that explains the weird sensations that I am feeling." Rei said as she began to remember what had happened to her.

"Hey what are you doing?" Ryo asked as Rei climbed up to her feet.

"To join the others." Rei replied after her henshin into Sailor Mars. "Anyways we recover faster when we engage in mild combat."

Ryo just shook his head with that pronouncement. _The others would have liked warriors like these where fighting equals faster healing. Well I better go and keep an eye on her._ He thought as he shifted back to his true form and phased invisible.

* * *

Kaolinite was doing fairly well against Sailor Uranus and Neptune, keeping them on the defensive. Neptune's pronouncement that the Pure Heart Crystal was no good annoyed her. But she figured that taking out three Sailor Senshi would still make this a good mission. Uranus was barely staying in there, having been outmatched when it was just herself against Kaolinite. Neptune had barely arrived in the nick of time, a few minutes more and Kaolinite would have had a trophy to bring back to Rubeus. Though as it was, Kaolinite was now wearing down Neptune as well and before long she would have two trophies to bring back, plus the petite warrior as well.

"Hold it right there." Came an annoying voice announcing the arrival of more Sailor Senshi. "For you desecration of this holy place in the name of Venus." "Jupiter," "Pluto," and then from the other side of the courtyard "and Mars." "We will punish you."

_Dang it looks like the Crystal Daimon has been destroyed. Though it appears that I did get Sailor Mercury out of the deal._ Kaolinite thought as she assessed the situation. Deciding that she did not like the odds and as much as she hated the idea of letting Sailor Uranus and Neptune live when she was so close to killing them, she much preferred her own life.

"Well it looks like you brats win this time." Kaolinite said before turning on her heals and making a run for it.

Not giving chase, Jupiter and Venus instead headed over to see how Rei was, while Pluto walked over to check on the wounded Uranus who was currently being supported by a fairly beat-up Neptune. Becoming visible in his human form, Ryo looked around for Mercury. Not seeing her and fearing the worst, he ran towards the stairs. As he passed Tuxedo-Kamen, the masked warrior reached out and grabbed a hold of the distraught teenager.

"Let me go! I need to see to Ami-chan." Ryo pleaded.

"Urawa-kun you can't go to her yet. She is still in her Sailor form and I am sure that by now bystanders will have begun to return to the street. Don't worry she seems to be doing okay for the moment; I laid Sailor Moon down beside her before coming up here."

Ryo looked up at the Tuxedo-Kamen not quite certain if he agreed with his assessment of the situation.

"Why don't you head to her home and I will bring her over by the roofs. I am sure that Usagi is up and about again, she was just drained from using her attack."

Ryo reluctantly agreed to this and once again changed back to his other form and phased invisible, as that would allow him to get to her home faster.

Having taken care of that issue, Tuxedo-Kamen leapt down to street level. Landing on top of a light pole, he then jumped down to the ground and walked over to where Usagi was kneeling beside Sailor Mercury. Walking up beside his love, he placed a supportive hand on her back.

"How is she doing?"

"Not good, but she will recover. Though, right now her energy levels are very low." Usagi replied.

"And how about you?"

"My wing hurts like crazy, but I am okay for the moment. Though I won't know how much damage has been done to it until Mercury is able to look at it. Right now though, Mercury is far more important, we should get her home."

Mamoru listened as Usagi talked, impressed by how mature she was in handling the situation. Part of him expected her to be wailing about the pain to her wing she was feeling. However he knew what it came to the well being of others, especially her friends, nothing would deter this lighthearted girl. "Hai, Urawa is probably already at her home waiting for me to return with her." he said. 

Then after seeing Usagi nod her head in approval, he knelt down to pick Mercury up in his arms. As he did so, he was startled to see that blood stained the pavement. _What happened to Ami when she was battling that demon? I just hope Usagi is right in saying that she'll be okay."_ Knowing that he would have to extra careful in how he handled the blue haired girl, he carefully cradled her in his arms and took to the roofs, with Sailor Moon following not far behind.

* * *

Dr Mizuno walked over to the fridge to get a something to drink; she had the evening off tonight, not even on call for once. She wished that she could have spent her time off with her daughter, but she was not going to intrude on her daughter and friends plans for the evening, since seeing Ami with friends meant so much to her.

Walking back into the living room to sit down, she suddenly stopped, realizing that she was no longer alone. Turning around she found Urawa Ryo standing there in the kitchen.

Startled by his sudden appearance, she asked, "How did you get in here? Is Ami here?" as she attempted to get her racing heart back under control. Even though she could see that it was only Urawa, something about his presence still made her apprehensive. Looking into his eyes, she could tell that something had happened. With a growing feeling of despair, she asked, "Something has happened to Ami, hasn't it? Where is she?"

"Hai, I am afraid Ami's been hurt. There was another battle today, this time they attacked Rei." Ryo said. "Ami and I were the first ones to arrive and there was no time to wait for the others. Unfortunately by herself, Ami was outmatched. I don't know what happened, only that things did not go well for her."

As Ryo finished his reply, the sound of footsteps were heard upstairs, indicating that Tuxedo-Kamen had landed on the balcony and had entered the house. Both Ryo and Mizuno-san knew what those footsteps meant and headed up the stairs to Ami's room. There they found Usagi sitting on the bed, beside a resting Ami. Mizuno-san immediately rushed to her daughter's side. 

Standing up and blocking Mizuno-san's path to the bed, Usagi said, "You may want to wait on pulling her into your arms. This demon attacked in a manner similar to being run over by a car and I don't know how many times Ami was hit before we arrived. All I know is that she could barely sit up on her own and that even talking caused her to cough up blood."

The color drained from Mizuno-san's face as she listened to Usagi. Now in her doctor mode, she stepped around Usagi to take a better look at her daughter. She could see the beginning of large bruises on Ami's arms, legs and face and could see the stains of blood on the front of Ami's outfit.

"I need to get her out of this outfit. The tightness of it will cause trouble if she has any swelling, especially with the likely internal injuries that she may have." Mizuno-san said to herself as she tried to keep herself professional for the moment.

Usagi looked away from mother and daughter to the other two in the room and caught Mamoru's attention. He understood the silent message she sent and slipped out of the room with Ryo in tow. With that taken care of, she returned her attention to Ami (it would do no good to have Ami deeply embarrassed once she recovered).

"This is one area where I can be of help." Usagi said as she placed her hands down on Ami's chest. Closing her eyes and focusing on the energy she felt in front of her, Usagi allowed the Ginzuishou to flare to life. With her birthmark glowing brightly and the silver crystal suspended in front of her chest aglow in its own light, she felt the energy of Mercury become part of herself. Giving a mental command she opened her eyes.

As Usagi removed her hands from Ami's chest, Mercury's fuku began to glow a bright blue. The glow continued to increase and then spread to cover her entire body, becoming a blue flame. When it vanished a few seconds later, Mercury's fuku had not only been dissolved, but so had much of much of Ami's civilian clothing.

Mizuno-san watched on in awe, "Well that beats using scissors."

"Figured you would need her regular clothing off as well so that you could do a full evaluation."

Mizuno-san just nodded a reply to Usagi as she bent down over her daughter and began checking her injuries. During her investigation, Usagi remembered that she had pocketed the Mercury computer when she had put Ami to sleep and took that out and gave it to Mizuno-san. Between the two of them, they eventually were able to figure out how to put it into medical mode. And while neither of them knew how to really use it to diagnose Ami, it thankfully started up in a basic scan mode. Using that information and her own training, Mizuno-san was able to determine that Ami had a handful of cracked ribs, massive bruising, a slight break in her right arm, but thankfully did not appear to have any major internal organ damage. That kind of injury would have necessitated a hospital visit, something that Mizuno-san was very glad she didn't have to deal with. And while Ami was in a very rough shape, she was able to conclude that Ami would pull through okay. 

"Well it looks like she will be okay, though one thing does worry me." Mizuno-san said, that last part drawing Usagi's attention. "I can't figure out why she hasn't woken up yet. The only thing I can think of is that she has some kind of head injury or…" Mizuno-san trailed off at the end, unable to voice her fears.

"Don't worry." Usagi said in a warm voice. "I am responsible for her being sound asleep. And don't worry, it is nothing more than a deep sleep." Then seeing how Mizuno-san was looking at her, Usagi elaborated. "Ami-chan can be very dedicated when she wants to be. And unfortunately, today she did not listen to her more reasonable mind and fought long after she should have withdrawn, to the point where I am sure she was using all her power to just remain fighting.

Just a few weeks earlier, Mizuno-san would never have believed any who told her that her daughter, Ami, had fought a solo battle, much less that she fought it far past her own breaking point. However since learning that Ami was Sailor Mercury, she was finally able to see the inner strength that had been growing in Ami. A strength that was strengthened everyday just by being around Usagi. 

Thinking about Usagi's explanation, Mizuno-san asked, "You have the ability to put them to sleep?"

"Hai to a limited degree. The Ginzuishou, the source of my powers, was created by pooling all the planetary energies in this system, through it I can influence the magics of those planets. However, I can only do so when there is no opposition to my control. Hence I can't command their magics if they are conscious, but if they are out, as Mercury was just now when I dispelled her Senshi magic or in the case of the battle where she was barely conscious, I do have the ability to take control of their magic to a limited degree." Usagi replied.

"I guess that makes some sense." Mizuno-san said, still not being that comfortable with the concept of magic. Walking over to the closest she took out a sheet, which she proceeded to cover Ami with. "Well the only thing we can do now is let her rest and hope that she is feeling better in the morning. At least she will have the weekend to recover before we need to worry about school. And worse comes to worse, being a doctor I can always write a long term note for her if she needs it" Mizuno-san said, believing the last part to be a distinct possibility.

With Ami taken care of, the two left the room. Walking behind Usagi as they left, Mizuno-san realized that Usagi was still in her Senshi form. "Usagi-chan if you don't mine my asking, why are you still as Sailor Moon?"

"Oh?" Usagi replied, having forgotten that she was still in her Senshi form. "Well that is a simple thing to…" She began saying as she started to let her form revert. However, she suddenly broke off both her speech and transformation in mid-sentence as a pained grimace crossed her face while she doubled over slightly.

"Usagi-chan what's wrong?" Mizuno-san asked, concern in her voice.

Straightening herself back up, Usagi replied, "In looking after Ami, I had entirely forgotten about my own injury from the battle. The enemy did something to my left wing and when I tried to pull it back into my body so that I could revert to my school uniform, the pain became unbearable. And unfortunately, I am currently wearing my school uniform and not one of outfits that have been modified for having my wings out. Because of that I can't leave my wings out when I release my transformation." Usagi said. And then after pausing for a moment she continued, "Well I could still do that , but I wouldn't be wearing my shirt anymore." She ended with a smile.

Even as Usagi was speaking, Mizuno-san had taken a hold of her arm and pulled the silver haired girl into the kitchen where the lighting was good. Then bringing in a stool, she had the younger girl sit on it. Reaching out she gently took a hold of Usagi's left wing, the one that had streaks of blood on it. Understanding what Ami's mother was doing, Usagi let her wings go limp, so that Mizuno-san could pull the left one up and examine it. 

At one point in her examination, Mizuno-san sent a rather large shiver of pain through Usagi. "Gomen Usagi" Ami's mom said after the shiver died down. Usagi just sent a smile back saying that it was okay, while she let the doctor continue her examination. A few minutes later Mizuno-san finished her examination, thankfully without causing much more distress to Usagi.

Releasing Usagi's wing, Mizuno-san walked back in front of the other girl to tell her the results of her examination. "Well I have found your problem, there are a half dozen holes in your wing. Most of them are pretty clean and should hopefully heal without too much trouble. However, I am not a vet so I don't know for sure. But there is one that I am worried about." Reaching out she carefully took a hold of Usagi's wing to point out the one that she was worried about. "Here at the top of your wing, this one was ripped through muscle and may even have nicked some bone. I am going to need to clean these wounds out so that they can heal and I am especially worried about this top one getting infected. Unfortunately this is not going to be any fun."

Hearing that last bit Usagi's face went white, while she did not know exactly what Mizuno-san was going to do, she was very afraid that it might involve needles.

"Thankfully after learning about Ami's secret, I started stocking the house with various medical supplies and I do have something that I can give you." She said as she took out a case from below the sink. Opening it, she removed a couple of items before she found what she was looking for, a large cylinder and a bottle.

"Iie! I don't want any shots." Usagi cried as tears began running down her face from the realization that Mizuno-san was preparing to give her a shot.

"Don't worry it won't hurt too much. And it will make the pain in your wing go away. If I don't give you this, it will hurt even more than before when I clean out the wounds. Especially that nasty one."

Usagi considered Mizuno-san's explanation as tears continued to stream down her face. However, Mizuno-san could see from the girl's indecision that she was not buying her reasoning. Trying one last option, she said, "If you let me give you this shot I have a lollipop for you." To which Usagi's face immediately lit up. Opening a cupboard, she removed the bag of candy and took out a sucker to give Usagi. Now with Usagi content and distracted by the sweet, she quickly injected the painkiller into Usagi's wing.

Usagi's crying had attracted the attention of Ryo and Mamoru and the two arrived just in time to see Mizuno-san give Usagi the shot. Seeing Dr. Mizuno treating Usagi immediately reminded Mamoru of what had happened to Usagi that afternoon. Walking up beside Usagi, he took a hold of her right and said, "Don't worry I will be right here with you." this improved Usagi's mood even more.

"Urawa-san, Ami is going to be okay. With the aid of her computer, I was able to give her a reasonable examination and from what I understand of how much punishment she and the others can take, I am sure that she will recover. Though she is going to be bedridden all weekend."

Ryo gave a sigh of relief when he heard that. "I'll bring her over some stuff to work on tomorrow." He said knowing that she would go crazy otherwise, and knowing exactly what material she was going to want to have to work on.

"Hai that sounds good. Oh Urawa-san, if you wouldn't mind. Could you give Usagi's parents a call and ask if they could bring over one of Usagi outfits that is designed for her wings. When I am done cleaning this wound and while the pain is still numb, I think she should change out of her Senshi form and then out of school clothes into something that will be a bit more comfortable."

"Hai." 

* * *

Once she had verified that Uranus and Mars were okay, Pluto took leave of the others. There was one other that needed to be checked on; one that in the confusion of the moment everyone else had overlook, not that you could fault them for that. Usagi at the time was unconscious; Tuxedo-Kamen of course had his attention focused on her. Jupiter and Venus had already been focusing on the next part of the battle. That left only her to see ChibiMoon disappear. Pluto just hoped that the expression that she had seen on the child's face was not what she thought it was. None of the others are ready to deal with the nightmares that will result if it is true. Neo-Queen Serenity and King Endymion had been barely able to deal with those nightmares and it took months to put them to away.

Hoping that it was just the stress of battle getting to ChibiUsa, Setsuna first visited the Crown Arcade to see if ChibiUsa had gone there. Not seeing her, she then walked by the Tomoe mansion, but could only sensed the energy of destruction there. Keeping her fingers crossed she headed to the Tsukino home. Of course, of the three areas this was the most likely place for ChibiUsa to go. However, even if it was just battle stress, she did not expect ChibiUsa to head straight home and so had taken the time to check the other places to give ChibiUsa the time to get home.

"Shingo-kun it is good to see you again. Is ChibiUsa home?" Setsuna asked when Shingo opened the door.

"Iie, she hasn't come home yet." Hearing that, Setsuna crossed her brows in displeasure but did not say anything. Seeing that green haired woman hadn't said anything and was making no move to leave, Shingo added, "Would you like to come in and wait for her? I am sure she will be arriving soon."

"Hai, if it is not too much of an imposition."

"Iie" Shingo replied as he held the door open for her to enter. Then closing the door, he went into the kitchen to get her some tea to drink. 

Later when the phone rang, Shingo answered and listened to Ryo's request. "But she is okay, right?" he asked before hanging up the phone. Then turning to his guest said, "Why didn't you tell me that Usagi was hurt today?" venting his concern of his sister as anger.

"Gomen Shingo, I know how much you care about Usagi. I did not know that she was injured badly.  And unfortunately I am more concerned about ChibiUsa right now."

That response froze Shingo in his tracks. He cared a lot for his niece, especially since she was a great ally in taking on his older sister. "What is wrong with her?" he asked some fear in his voice this time.

"Nothing I hope. But I am afraid that she may be facing internal demons from her past. I just hope that Usagi is able to help her through them."

"Usagi, ah yes that's right. Hold on a moment Setsuna-san. That was Urawa-san calling, he says that they need a new outfit for Usagi, she's at Ami's being treated by Ami's mother. Could you bring it to her?"

"Hai." Setsuna said.

"I'll only be a minute in getting it." Shingo replied and disappeared up the stairs.

"I should have stayed with Usagi instead of staying to talk with Haruna-sensei." Luna said shame in her voice.

Kneeling down to look at the feline, Setsuna said, "Luna there is nothing that you could have done. If what I suspect is true, there is nothing anyone could have done, well other than Usagi not getting shot out of the sky, that could have prevented what has happened to ChibiUsa. I am going to go outside and get Diana. Once we have dropped off Usagi's shirt the two of us will go out and look for ChibiUsa. You will need to stay with Usagi and keep her from chasing after ChibiUsa as well.

"It is complicated, but it involves something that occurred during her previous trip back to the past. And seeing Usagi will only make the guilt that she is undoubtedly facing even worse."

"Guilt? I don't understand." Luna replied.

"I know you don't. But this is not the time to explain it. For now it would be best not to tell Usagi of my concerns and I would like you to make sure that Usagi does not go looking for ChibiUsa." Pluto told Luna. Then having said that, she went out to the backyard to get Diana.

**

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**

End Notes:

The founding of the Moon Kingdom is the subject of the second chapter of my In the Beginningseries (though I don't think I have posted that chapter, still needs work). On the Senshi who declared that Ginzuishou was a star seed, that would be Saturn. However, Luna doesn't remember the existence of a Saturn so of course she couldn't attribute who exactly said that. Of course, one would think that she and the others could have deduced that there should be a Sailor Saturn. The second attack that hit Ami was the rivet gun attack. However, she wasn't really in a position to see that second attack nor did she really realize after coming to that she had been hit twice. Misako is a reference to the "Tales of the Younger Senshi" series. In that series, she is the second daughter of Usagi and Mamoru. I probably have the correct number of eyes for a Babylon 5 shadow wrong, however, I couldn't find any shadow pictures in which I could count their eyes. But six is a nice alchemic number, hence how I got the 24. I am afraid to say to those who have been asking Helios will not be making an appearance in Falling Towards Apotheosis. However, if I ever do write my third volume (maybe finished sometime next decade) he would appear there. He will play a rather pivotal role, beyond the normal Supers roll. But that is assuming that I get a faster chapter pace going. Sorry for the delay on getting this chapter out. But I have an excuse for at least part of the time, as I was moving from NC to OH in December to take a new job. Next chapter should be short, so maybe it'll see the light of day before the summer. 


	30. Objects at Rest

The Fragility of Time BOOK TWO: "Falling Towards Apotheosis" Chapter 30 "Objects at Rest" Author: etj4Eagle Email: etj4Eagle@yahoo.com Lasted Edited: 6/1/03 

Disclaimer: A reminder I own none of the characters of this story, all rights are owned by others. However, the unique circumstances of the story are mine. If you distribute the story, do only so freely and inform me of where you post it.

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Leaving the Tsukino household with Diana on her shoulder, Setsuna walked a few blocks down the street before disappearing into an alleyway. There hidden from view she placed the kitten down on the ground before reverting to her Sailor form.

"What's happening Pluto-san" Diana asked.

"ChibiUsa's demons from her episode as Black Lady have returned." Pluto replied

Diana simply said "Oh" to that as the she recalled how withdrawn ChibiUsa had been after her previous trip to the past.

"And the action that has caused these demons to resurface will prevent ChibiUsa from seeking any comfort from Serenity. She instead disappeared into the streets of the city following the end of their last battle. We need to find ChibiUsa and comfort her. If I am right, she is in a very precarious state right now and I wouldn't even be surprised if she releases one of her Moon Beams."

Though Diana had never actually seen one of these Moon Beams, ChibiUsa only having produced them during her previous trip to the past, Diana knew what the release of one of these meant. Not only would the already vulnerable princess be even more vulnerable after releasing all that raw energy, she would instantly give away her location to anyone looking to cause trouble. And with Rubeus out there, he would surely not give up such a golden opportunity to try to capture the Moon Princess.

Indicating her understanding of the gravity of the situation, Diana simply said, "I'll find her Pluto-san." before taking her leave.

"Diana-chan, you'll travel easier if you use your human form." Pluto said to the departing form. "I have instructed Luna to stay with Usagi and to not tell her anything, so the risk of using your full powers should be minimal."

"Hai." Diana said, agreeing with Pluto that it would be far easier to search for ChibiUsa in her human form. As an adult, she probably would have been better off in her feline form, but she was still just a kitten. Now in the form of a twelve-year-old girl, Diana headed out into the early evening. _ChibiUsa stay strong we'll be there soon for you._

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Captain Keffer was enjoying his 24 hrs of liberty, which had started earlier that day at six. He and his wingmen had immediately taken their leave of base and headed into Tokyo to spend the evening. Like previous liberties, they had no real plan of action on how to spend it. But so far, it was following true to form. They were just exiting their traditional restaurant having all stuffed themselves on the delicious food. Now they were just roaming the streets of Tokyo while they digested their dinner and letting the hour get later. Before long, they would probably begin to wander into bars and karaoke parlors, making the most out of their evening. Then in the early hours of the morning, they would find some place cheap to bed down for the night and most of the next morning as well.

As they walked down the street, the group of four rotor-heads talked about the orders they had received that morning for an upcoming rotation to a live fire training range. As was usual, the different members of the group were bragging over who would finish top in the squadron and by how much more. Before long, bottles of bear and sake would be assigned to the different elements of the training exercise. But for now, they were still in the boosting without stakes stage.

Ivoniva having made her boast and only half listening to those of the others, she only needed know how much she needed to increase her boost when it came time for her to speak again, looked into the various closed shops they passed. One of the stores, an electronic store, caught her attention as a couple of their TVs were still on and these were showing a news channel. In particular, they were currently showing clips of that afternoon's demon attack. "Well it looks like we don't have to worry about having a monster attack ruining liberty." she said.

"Why do you say that?" Yoshi asked.

"Apparently there was already a monster incident today. And since lately we have only been getting one every few days, I would say that we timed our liberty just right."

"Hai you can say that again." agreed the forth member of their group, Hito.

"Hai." Keffer agreed as well. "I'm just glad that we are no longer going up against those creatures ourselves. I may be the best pilot there is, but that doesn't mean that I can handle taking on things that belong in children's stories book. I would rather fight the whole North Korean army than take on another one of those things again.

"Hai!" agreed the rest, Keffer's boost falling to the wayside from the larger issue of the demons. That first mission against those creatures was an eye opener and they all easily remembered the dread they felt when prepping for launch on the subsequent missions. Hellfire missiles and depleted uranium armor piercing bullets just did not have the same effect against one of those creatures as against a tank. Then to top it off the debriefs from those missions made you at times wish you were a POW. For some reasons the brass seemed to expect them to have all the answers, as to where and why these things were coming from and the easy way to kill them. The last one always cracked them up in their squadron post debrief get-togethers, since if they knew the easy way to kill these things, they would be fighting them that way, not any of this lets keep them distracted until the Sailor Senshi can kill them.

The mention of monster attacks and having to fight them again, caused the group to lapse into silence. It had been awhile since they had actually taken to the air to fight these things, not since the wave of euphoria. Though a little over a month back, one of the other squadrons had taken to the air following a large explosion in a tunnel and then only days after that, they had just launched in response to a building that just sprouted massive plant growth, however in that case by the time they got there everything had returned to normal. Consequently, they had begun to see the demon attacks in the same abstract manner as the rest of Tokyo, however now those memories and feelings came back in full causing the group to lapse into the silence of their own private thoughts over this nightmare which had settled over Tokyo.

The group walked two blocks like that, before Ivoniva finally broke the silence. They had come upon an intersection and had to wait for the light to change. An object moving separate from the rest of the flow of pedestrians on the other side of the street caught her trained pilot eye. Coming out of her thoughts, she looked across the street at what had caught her attention and found the object in question to be a young girl. However, the hour was getting fairly late for a child to be out. Curious, Ivoniva voiced her thoughts out loud, "I wonder what such a young girl is doing out this late at night."

Everyone looked up to spot the girl that Ivoniva was referring to. Seeing the girl that Ivoniva was obviously referring to Keffer had to agree that she definitely appeared to be too young to be out this late by herself. She looked to be no older than ten, probably even less. Though as he continued to watch her, he found a strange sensation of recognition. For some reason he just knew that he knew her quite well, yet he had not interacted with any child near her age in the past couple of years. So, what was it that he found familiar? Trying to puzzle out that mystery, he noticed that she appeared to be looking for something, or more likely, someone from the way she was scanning up and down both sides of the street. 

At one point, she looked in his direction, allowing Keffer to get a clear view of her face. He instantly knew that he had never seen this girl before, yet at the same time he also knew that he did know her and it was from not that long ago. A glimmer of reflected street lamplight caught his attention and he realized that she was wearing only one earring. _Wait only one earring?_ Keffer thought, suddenly everything falling into place.

Reaching into his shirt, Keffer pulled out his dog tags. Attached to one of them was a solo earring. That earring along with a little bell were the mementoes that that the kitten he had found had left him when it had vanished on that night of the triple attack. He had no idea where the kitten could have gotten an earring from, nor how she had managed to remove her collar (it had been unfasten). The collar he kept with his flight gear as a good luck charm, while he attached the earring to his dog tag, as a reminder that something magical had really happened. Looking down at that earring and then looking up at the child on the other side of the street, Keffer's mind made a leap of faith and concluded that they went together. Not waiting for the light to change, he dashed into the street.

"Keffer no baka, what are you trying to do!" Ivoniva yelled at him.

Just barely dodging a semi, Keffer replied, "I think I know that girl, I'll be only a minute."

"If that baka survives this, I'll just have to kill him myself." Ivoniva said, a sentiment that the others agreed with.

Miraculously making it safely to the other side, Keffer jogged the last few steps, catching up to the child. _Well here it goes._ he thought to himself as he pulled up behind her. "Excuse me ma'am." he said while reaching out and taking a hold of her shoulder. 

"Huh?" Diana mumbled as she felt someone lightly grab a hold of her, turning to see what this stranger wanted her eyes went wide with surprise and recognition.

For Keffer, seeing her double take in recognition was all he needed to confirm that this girl and that kitten were one and the same, he did not even notice that like the kitten she also had a golden crescent moon. Removing his dog tags from his neck, he held them out to her in his out-stretched hand. "You wouldn't happen to be the owner of this earring, which a gray kitten left me?" Keffer ask, while pointing to the earring with his thumb.

Diana was still not sure how to respond; however, one thing she did realize was that somehow Keffer had connected her two forms. How he had done that she had no idea, but he had. Her mother would tell her to just feign ignorance, even if she was wearing the matching earring to the one he had affixed to one of his dog tags, or at the very least claim that the kitten was her own. But this airman had shown her compassion, taking her in when she was injured and giving her a home for a while. She couldn't just turn her back on him and so she made the decision her queen would have wanted her to make instead. "Hai it is. It is good to see you again Keffer-san. I'm sorry that I did not properly thank you for the hospitality that you showed me when you took me in and instead just disappeared on you. And please call me Diana-chan."

"It is okay, Diana-chan. While you did have me a bit puzzled with the collar and earring that you left me, a part of me realized then that there was more to you than meets the eye. Even still, I am bit surprised to see that you like this."

Deciding that she could trust Keffer with a little more, Diana said. "I am a magical creature and can take both feline and human forms. For now, I am supposed to remain in my feline form all the time. However, a good friend of mine has run away, haunted by fears and I need to find her as quickly as possible."

Keffer nodded his understanding while also knowing that Diana was not telling him everything. Just seeing her in a human form was enough to convince him that she was connected with those Sailor Senshi. The crescent moon on her forehead, which he finally noticed was further proof of that. All of which of course implied that in all likelihood that this friend of hers was also connected with them. In which case finding her was very important.

"So Keffer who is your girlfriend that you risked your life to go see?" Yoshi asked as he and the others arrived. 

"Minna-san this is a friend of mine, Diana. Diana-chan these less than outstanding citizens are I am afraid my fellow wingmen."

"And I suppose that you are an exemplary citizen?" Yoshi replied.

"And what do you mean by afraid?" Ivoniva asked

"Why of course I am." Keffer said replying to Yoshi and then turning to Ivoniva, "Because I have seen cadets who are better pilots than you three. But that is enough for now Diana needs my help. So I am afraid that I am going to have to bail on our plans for the evening."

And with that, Keffer quickly took his leave with Diana. As the two disappeared down the street, they heard Yoshi tell him to "have fun with your girlfriend." Keffer knew that he and Diana had gotten off quite lightly there. Diana for her part had been enjoying herself watching the batter amongst the group of friends. She of course had immediately recognized the other three of the group, having met them in her kitten form back at the airbase. 

 "Well now that that is taken care of, lets go see about finding this friend of yours. I think I saw a place not far back along the street where I can rent a moped from, it'll allow us to cover the city much faster."

"You're sure you don't mind doing this Keffer-san?" Diana asked as she followed the older man back across the street, this time he crossed it with the light.

"Nope, anyways I don't care how well you think you can take care of yourself, I can not let you travel the streets at night by yourself. I would spend all my liberty worrying about your safety. At least this way, I might actually be able to still salvage some of my liberty for enjoyment, and hey this could always be interesting, especially if they have any bikes that will be able to get some decent speed.

_______________________________________

The evening found Hotaru sitting in her room doing her homework. Finishing up the final set of writing exercises for the weekend, Hotaru closed her schoolbook and put it away in her schoolbag.  Then walking over to her bed, she flopped down on it while taking her pillow into her arms. Her plan had been to just spend an hour or two lying there on her bed, enjoying the quiet solitude of her room and the eternal twilight that she had put it in with all of her lamps. But as she reached her arms around the pillow, they brushed up against something hard and smooth.

Instantly recognizing what it was, she tossed her pillow over to the other side of the bed. Picking up the magazine and manga that lay there, she smiled with delight. Flopping to the other side of the bed and propping herself up and the pillow she put the manga down on the bed beside her and opened up the magazine and began to read it. With her now attending school, she had lost track of the dates and the passing of time. But it was the beginning of the new month, and Eudial had bought her the new issue of Runners World and a sports manga. The manga was a collection of various one-shot sports stories that was published monthly. Of the two, it was the one that she could actually fully read and understand, as the running magazine was an American magazine and therefore written in English.

Both Eudial and Kaolinite knew of her desire to one day run a marathon. However, where Kaolinite tried to crush that dream every chance that she got, Eudial encouraged the child to pursue that dream. As part of that, every month she bought the professor's daughter the magazine and manga. She bought Hotaru an American magazine as a way to encourage the child to work on her English, plus she knew Hotaru especially dreamed of running a marathon in each of America's big cities.

As she flipped through the magazine reading what she could and daydreaming with respect to the photos, Hotaru found herself to be restless for some reason. Normally when she found these gifts from Eudial she would become wrapped up in them for hours at a time, not even noticing the passage of time. But for some reason tonight she was just not getting into them. Instead, she realized as she sat up and looked outside, she had a yearning to be out there searching for something.

She was the only one home tonight; her father and all his assistants were working late on something. So as she wandered downstairs, she had no one to talk to in an attempt to distract herself from this yearning that she was having. Opening the back door, she walked out in the yard. But as she smelled the fresh air and felt its coolness on her skin the sense of yearning increased even further. "What is it that I am feeling?" Hotaru asked the empty air. "Why do I feel that I need to go out into the night? That there is someone who I must protect?" Someone, that word resonated in Hotaru's mind. Why was it someone and not a something? And if it was a someone, who was it? But even as she was pondering that question, the answer came to her. "ChibiUsa-chan!" Hotaru exclaimed

Even as she voiced that one word, her body became awash in guilt, fear and foreboding. The fear and guilt were not her own emotions, something was wrong with ChibiUsa. That she was sure of. Quickly walking back into the house, she went into the kitchen and dug out a 12-cell Maglight. It was a bit heavy for her, but she felt reassured by its heftiness and knew that if anyone tried to give her trouble she would be able to more than sufficiently fend him or her off with this flashlight. If she had stopped to think about that thought for a moment she would have been puzzled to wonder where her sudden confidence in hand to hand combat had come from, especially given her health, which would probably cause her to faint if she actually had to use the light as a weapon. But she did not, instead infused with the confidence that the alternate use of the flashlight provided; she walked over to the hall closet and took out a light jacket. Putting it on she left the house and headed out into the night.

_______________________________________

Dashing across the rooftops, Pluto was not having any luck finding ChibiUsa. Of course, small lady had more than likely found some little hole of a place to crawl into, in which case it would only be Usagi or Mamoru who would be able to find her. But unfortunately that was not an option right now and she and Diana needed to find small lady before Rubeus did. And the thunder and lightning that had begun a few minutes earlier were not going to help the matter; given how deathly afraid both mother and daughter were of thunderstorms. Stopping to rest for a moment on top of a school building, Pluto summoned her staff. 

Resting it on the ground, she stared into the Garnet Orb commanding it to show her what she desired. And to her surprise as her eyes began to glow with the power of Time, it did. She saw ChibiUsa running the streets, ducking under fences and now between piles of dirt. Pluto guessed that ChibiUsa had entered some kind of construction site, however her vision did not show her any actual detail of Small Lady's surroundings. Small Lady's dash finally slowed to a stop and the child crawled into a gap between some construction materials. There in the semi-enclosure, she curled herself up into a ball and her crying and grief began in earnest, now that she was no longer hiding from it by running. 

Through the Garnet Orb, Pluto could feel the energy of the Moon begin to build around ChibiUsa and Pluto knew what was going to happen. She did not have to wait long before Small Lady's anguish caused her energy to reach a crescendo and a Moon Beam erupted from the child. With the concurrent thunderstorm, the Moon Beam probably went unnoticed by all except those who she wished not to see it, Pluto figured. And that meant that both Rubeus and Usagi should be heading over to where ChibiUsa had hidden herself away. However, as Pluto thought that, the Garnet Orb flashed and Pluto now saw a view of the Mizuno apartment. And in it, she saw her princess seemingly unaware of the trouble that ChibiUsa was in.

That worried Pluto. While it was true that the second vision like the first could have been of any point in the past, present, future her intuition told her that the orb was showing her what was happening right after the ChibiUsa released the Moon Beam and in that case something was preventing Usagi from feeling ChibiUsa's pain and her use of the Moon Beam. Even as Pluto was puzzled by that mystery, the vision changed back to that of ChibiUsa, but this time she could also see Kaolinite. However, neither Kaolinite nor Rubeus should have the power to block either the mother–daughter bond or the Ginzuishou–shadow Ginzuishou link. But the third person that now appeared did.

_______________________________________

Her heart pounding and her throat burning from her full tilt running, ChibiUsa continued to push herself. She did not let this pain distract herself from her goal, the pain was only a mild price to pay for the transgression that she had been about to make, she deserved far worse. Following her time as Black Lady, ChibiUsa had let her mother and the others tell her that she was not at fault for anything that had happened, that the Wiseman had brainwashed her and perverted her own memories. She had struggled at first, knowing that that wasn't the truth, but eventually she gave in and had even come to believe their version of events.

However, today that illusion of innocence was shattered and the truth was laid before her own eyes. The Wiseman hadn't tricked her into becoming Black Lady; no, she had very much been a willing partner. Yes, he had changed some of her memories, increasing her negativity. But she still had been the one initially to accept his offer. Her mother, Usagi would never have been able to be corrupted by the Wiseman. Even with all the power in the universe and all of eternity he never would have been able to corrupt Usagi, she would have remained pure. 

Coming across a construction site, ChibiUsa stopped running. Not pausing to catch her breath, she searched for a way in. Finding a hole in the fence, she got down on her belly and crawled through a muddy puddle to get through. Through to the other side, she got back up on her feet and began wandering around the construction site. Before long, she found a nice enclosed spot between to piles of I-beams. Crawling into that tight spot, she curled up into a fetal position.

Continuing to remember her temptation by the Wiseman, she remembered how he had infused her with his dark energy. She had not resisted the energy that he gave her; instead, she had readily accepted it, using that energy to grow herself into an adult like the rest of the Senshi of her time, though an even more beautiful and sexy one than any of them. Nor did she stop there, she continued to greedily grab at the energy that she was being fed, she wanted no one to be able to doubt that she had power. As this was happening she did not notice nor even care that her memories were being perverted. What little part of her did notice, just grinned as each perversion increased her ability to handle this dark energy even more.

At least at the time she had some excuses for acting that way. After all, various palace officials and servants were constantly chiding her and then whispering behind her back that she was some imposter, not a real successor to the throne of the Moon. It was those words that had driven her to take the Ginzuishou, to show that she could wield the power of that crystal. But the crystal had vanished when she touched it, a sure indication that she was not worthy of its power, or at least that is what she had thought. However, now she knew differently that only by having the crystal vanish into her body did she now have the ability to become Sailor Moon.

Even though her attempt to prove the others wrong by taking the Ginzuishou had failed, ChibiUsa was not swayed from her desire to prove that she really was the heir to the power of the Moon. When the Wiseman took her and tempted her with the dark energy of the Rogue Planet she saw a way to finally prove that she did have power of her own and readily accepted that energy.

But that was then, this was now. She no longer had anything to prove to anyone. Her powers had finally begun to awaken and she now was Sailor Moon, or at least Sailor Moon in training. She was growing again and even here in the past she had a loving family and a good friend. No one called her names, especially after Shingo had a little talk with that one boy in her class. So, she had no excuse of needing to prove herself or anything, but yet she still had almost stolen Sailor Moon's star seed and made it her own.

How could she be the true daughter of Neo-Queen Serenity if she acted like that? She did not deserve to be the crown princess. Instead, she deserved to be locked up for the rest of her life for even contemplating such a treasonous crime as that. Every Serenity was an angel right up to her mother, one who even had the wings to prove it. But she, she was just a power hungry successor. Obviously, her mother had known the truth when she had given birth to her and named her Tsukino Usagi instead of Serenity. She obviously did not deserve that name and as she thought about it more she did not even deserve the future that they were attempting to restore, nor even the protection of her mother's past self. What she needed to do was to leave Japan, find some backwater country on a different continent to disappear into.

"Okaa-san, I am going to miss you. I love you, but this is for the best." ChibiUsa called out into the night as she stood back up. Her mind was clear, though she had no idea yet how she was going to smuggle herself off this island nation, if she still had Luna-P it would be no problem. Pushing that complication out of her mind, she did not notice the rumbling of thunder as she took a step forward. Large raindrops began to fall as she took her first step and with each step, the rain got even heavier. Coming out from her hiding place, she thought once more about her mother and was overwhelmed with anguish. Collapsing to the ground as the heavens opened up and lightning lit the sky, sobs began to wrack her body. 

The storm continued to gain in intensity, with heavier rain and more frequent cracks of thunder, however ChibiUsa did not notice. She was totally focused on her own anguish, an anguish that was building as quickly as the storm. The two storms raced neck and neck towards their crescendo and as the storm reached its peak with a brilliant bolt of lighting snaking down to strike a building, ChibiUsa unleashed her own bolt of energy. Her energy spent, ChibiUsa now collapsed fully to the ground unconscious. The storm as well had passed its peak and fell to just a light rain.

_______________________________________

Being trapped in the fabric of spacetime as he was was the closest thing that the Death Phantom could imagine to being hell. At first, he had been satisfied with just being alive; after all, he had been the only one to survive the collapse of time itself. But just being alive is only good enough for so long. He was trapped in this solitude for all of eternity after all unless Rubeus could free him. His connection with the outside world was quite limited and it was very difficult for him to initiate contact with his minions.

Even still, he did feel a faint hum that was background energy of the Earth. It was not much, but it had told him of the tremendous power that Serenity had harnessed to defeat Metalia. And now it told him of a massive explosion of the Moon's power. This one was similar to some previous releases he had felt not long ago, but different as well. All of them were uncontrolled explosion of power, yet this one felt more immature. That and the energy was tainted with something else. It wasn't pure Moon energy, there was something else there, Earth energy. That of course meant that the Rabbit was responsible for this explosion of energy. 

Even though he had expected the Rabbit to be capable of such power, it was after all why he wanted her body; he was still taken back by the size of that release. With that kind of release, she was likely very vulnerable right now and he could make use of that. Concentrating on establishing the connection and expending some of his precious energy, the Death Phantom called out to Kaolinite.

Through the mental link, he told her what to do. It was a risky plan, but it could pay out in spades if it worked. The Rabbit was in a perfect condition for him to turn to their side. The emotions that fueled this outburst of energy were dark ones, ones that he could use to corrupt her with. And having just released so much energy, the Rabbit would be weakened and defenseless for what he planned. Of course, there was always the possibility that Serenity would arrive in time and defeat Kaolinite. But that servant had failed one too many times and it was time for her to either return big or be discarded.

The Death Phantom had no illusion that he could prevent Serenity from freeing the rabbit from his mind washing. But as much as ChibiUsa would be useful to him, by allowing him to access the incredible power of the Ginzuishou, Serenity would be even more so. She could not only tap into the power of the Ginzuishou, but she had somehow found another well of power. Instead, the Rabbit would only be bait for the big catch, Serenity. He had no doubt that she would willing give herself to him to save her daughter. And with her body, he would be utterly unstoppable. 

_______________________________________

After having walked for nearly an hour at a very brisk pace, Hotaru slowed down. Absently part of her mind wondered why none of her attacks had occurred; this was by far the most effort she had ever expended at once. But that was something to contemplate later; right now, she had to find ChibiUsa. Walking by a construction site, she felt the need to find a way into it. Using her flashlight, she looked for a way in. Before long she found one by where some of the heavy machinery was parked, the fence had been knocked partially off one of its poles there. Grabbing a hold of the fence, she struggled with all her might to bend it out of the way. It was a struggle that she was not sure she was going to win, but eventually she was able to get it around her body. Then with her body holding the loose piece of fence out, she crawled through the gap that she had opened.

Through to the other side, she got back up and dusted off her knees. Using her flashlight, she panned the different piles of construction material trying to find ChibiUsa. Not surprisingly, she did not find anything and so she continued forward. Multiple times, she tumbled to her feet as she stepped into a ditch or tripped over a piece of equipment on the ground. But like the rainstorm from earlier, she did not pay heed to any of those falls. Instead, she immediately returned to her feet to continue her search. Nor did she even consider aiming the flash light down so that she could she where she was walking. If you stopped her and asked her to look at herself she would have been quite surprised to learn that she was soaked to the bone (the light weight cloth jacket not being much protection in the torrential downpour) and even more surprised to discover that her body was covered with various cuts and scrapes. So focused on finding ChibiUsa she was, that she did not notice any of these things.

Hotaru continued her search down into the heart of the construction site, into the scaffolding of the building being construction. There as the beam of light from her flashlight passed over some equipment being installed, she caught a faint glimpse of a tuft of pink hair. Immediately recognizing who it was, Hotaru broke into a run while crying out, "ChibiUsa-chan!"

As she neared her friend, she came up short as she saw ChibiUsa curled into a tight ball, her body convulsing from what were probably sobs. So focused ChibiUsa was on her misery that she did not hear Hotaru and so was taken by surprise when she felt arms wrapping around her chest pulling her out of her ball. Not wanting to be comforted, ChibiUsa tried to curl back up, but Hotaru would not let her. Instead, after sitting down, she pulled the pink haired girl up into her lap and then held her tight against her own body.

"Shush, ChibiUsa-chan it's okay, I'm here for you now." Hotaru quietly reassured her friend while softly rocking back and forth tightly holding onto ChibiUsa.

ChibiUsa tried to protest that things were definitely not okay, that they were very, very wrong, however Hotaru never let her voice those thoughts. From how closely she held her friend she knew when ChibiUsa was about to speak and every time that ChibiUsa attempted to speak, Hotaru would place a finger on the other girl's lips. Hotaru only needed to do that a few times before ChibiUsa got the message. Sensing ChibiUsa surrendering, Hotaru gently turned ChibiUsa sideways so that the pink haired girl could lay her head against Hotaru's chest. For countless moments, ChibiUsa cried her sorrows into Hotaru's chest, while Hotaru reassured her best friend with soft words, a gentle rocking back and forth, and by softly stroking the pink hair of her friend.

Slowly bit-by-bit, Hotaru's reassurances began to build ChibiUsa's confidence back up again and the tears began to slow till they finally became nothing more than choked sobs. Even after she finished crying, ChibiUsa remained with her head against Hotaru's chest not yet ready to face the questioning gaze of another. Hotaru's lips turned up in a slight smile as ChibiUsa calmed down, however she did not disturb the other girl. Content to spend all night like this, she continued to stroke her friend's hair.

Ten minutes after she had finished crying, ChibiUsa was finally ready to look another in the eyes and not feel instantly guilty. Even still, the expression she wore when she looked up at Hotaru was one of utter shame and complete unworthiness. The unworthiness was for having such a loving friend as Hotaru after what she had almost done that afternoon.

Feeling ChibiUsa move her head, Hotaru looked down and met ChibiUsa's eyes. Giving her friend a reassuring smile, she asked, "What's wrong ChibiUsa-chan?"

ChibiUsa didn't know how to explain the shame and guilt that she felt to Hotaru, at least not in any way that wouldn't shame her mother even more. Hoping that Hotaru wouldn't press for too many details, ChibiUsa answered, "I almost did something… something… something horrendous. I would have killed Usagi for it" ChibiUsa said between sobs that became full-fledged tears as she barely forced the final words out.

She had expected Hotaru to throw her down to the ground and leave in disgust over that last part, and so was not prepared for Hotaru pulling her into an even closer tighter embrace. "ChibiUsa-chan, ChibiUsa-chan." She softly said while rocking ChibiUsa back and forth. At first, she just repeated saying ChibiUsa's name, not sure of how to ease the guilt her friend was feeling. When the words finally did come, they were of a wisdom far beyond her years, she spoke with a voice that had watched and had experienced thousands of years of life. "But the most important thing is that you didn't. You stared into the abyss of your soul and at the temptation of the Garden of Eden, but then having faced it all you pulled back. You made the choice to follow your soul and not your flesh. You have proved yourself worthy to be who you are. You are not an angel without flaw; you are not the same as those before. You are a joining of Heaven and Earth. You are the first of something new; you are a reflection of the world that you were born into, in all of its good and all of its bad, a world that is in the process of finding perfection and righteousness and so have you had to find it as well."

ChibiUsa did not so much hear the words of what Hotaru said as she instead felt their meaning. And as she did so, her feelings of despair began to vanish. Hotaru was right; she might have been tempted by that power, but would the others have been able to resist temptation as well? And anyways when it mattered, she was able to resist and turn away. She had grown since the last time when she had fully accepted the temptation.

And she wasn't called Serenity, not because she didn't deserve the title, but because she wasn't a Serenity. Every Serenity, including her mother, had just been a reincarnation of the first one. She still had trouble understanding Mars's explanation of that one and Puu had of course been useless in explaining it, only saying that one day it would be clear. Like that was a useful answer. Instead, she was the daughter of Serenity and Endymion, not the result of the power of the Ginzuishou. So hence, she deserved her own name. Of course, Tsukino Usagi wasn't really her own name; it was still her mother's name. But in the future, it was her own name; only here in the past was it also her mother's name. Plus it was a way to honor her grandmother, since the original Tsukino Usagi became the Serenity of a thousand years earlier.

Reassured by Hotaru's words, ChibiUsa choked back the rest of her tears. Feeling better, she moved against the embrace that Hotaru held her in. Feeling, ChibiUsa's movement and sensing that ChibiUsa was going to be okay now, Hotaru released her best friend who moved to sit beside Hotaru. Even though she was no longer in Hotaru's embrace, ChibiUsa still leaned against her friend as she wiped her tears dry. That taken care of she looked up at her best friend and said, "Arigatoo Hotaru-chan."

"Just happy to see you smiling again ChibiUsa-chan." replied Hotaru.

"Hai," ChibiUsa agreed nodding her head. "It's much better to be happy than sad." she said with a smile. To which Hotaru also smiled in agreement. 

"How about we head over to my place and get something dry to wear and some hot chocolate?" Hotaru asked and then added, "with lots of marshmallows." 

"Hai!" A very happy ChibiUsa replied as she stood up.

"Well, well, isn't this a nice happy scene." came a cold voice.

Looking up, their faces whitened in fear as they saw a figure standing not that far way. They could not make out her face, but between the flashes of lightning off in the distance, they could clearly see the down turned black crescent moon on her forehead. _What can I do? I don't have the energy to henshin right now, even if Hotaru wasn't here_ ChibiUsa thought to herself, knowing that the two of them were in big trouble.

"Run!" yelled Hotaru who had already gotten to her feet. Taking a hold of ChibiUsa's wrist, she pulled the other girl to her feet and the two took off. With one hand held in a practical death grip by Hotaru, ChibiUsa could not use her communicator, especially since Hotaru's hand was wrapped around said communicator.

"Running won't do you any good Rabbit. The Wiseman wants to see you and you don't have your pesky little Sailor Senshi protectors here to save you now." Kaolinite declared before unleashing a series of small fireballs.

Suddenly feeling impending doom, Hotaru shoved ChibiUsa to the side while throwing herself on top of the other girl and thereby just barely avoiding the attack. The two girls quickly got back to their feet and began dashing around the various pieces of equipment and piles of construction materials, hoping that they would provide some protection. 

As the ground exploded around them and they were thrown to the ground time after time and their path of escape cut off time after time, Hotaru said to ChibiUsa, "Now where have we seen this before?" Referring of course to the destruction at their school.

In spite of the danger of the situation and the fact that they were likely to be dead soon, ChibiUsa could only giggle at Hotaru's statement. Finally arriving at the perimeter at the property, the spirits of the two girls brightened before suddenly crashing back down. So busy as they were avoiding becoming a smoldering hole in the ground, they had forgotten about the fence, a fence that they had now run smack into.

With their backs against the fence, the two girls turned around and watched as their attacker slowly walked towards them. Fear racing their blood, neither girl knew what to do. All they could do was interlock the fingers of their hands as they awaited what was to come next.

"Guess it looks like the Rabbit has captured itself." smirked their attacker before stepping into the light cast by a nearby streetlight. 

Finally able to get a good look at their attacker, Hotaru exclaimed, "Kaolinite?" 

Intrigued that this other child who was with the Rabbit knew her name, Kaolinite took a closer look at her. She was quite taken back to realize that it was Hotaru, however she made no outward reaction as to her surprise. Instead, she coldly said, "I thought you were supposed to be home studying Hotaru-chan. You know that your father works very hard for you and for you to go and be so disrespectful to him. I think I'll just have to teach you a lesson. The Wiseman only wants your friend anyways."

Hotaru was just stunned, she had always had a feeling that Kaolinite could not be trusted, but for it to be this, well she had never fathomed anything like this. But as it was, she was about to be killed by the cold woman who was always trying to grind her self-esteem to dust. 

True to her form as an Usagi, the words that Kaolinite spoke to Hotaru struck a cord with ChibiUsa. The utter fear that she had been feeling vanished, replaced instead by anger and ChibiUsa reprimanded the older woman with, "How dare you talk about Hotaru-chan like that!" As she spoke those words, she stepped forward and in front of Hotaru.

"Pesky annoyance." responded Kaolinite as she backhanded ChibiUsa. The blow knocked ChibiUsa into the fence. Hitting one of the poles hard, she fell to the ground.

Seeing Kaolinite hit her friend, Hotaru cried out, "ChibiUsa-chan!" and took off towards her friend, arriving at her side just as she fell to the ground. She was relieved to see that ChibiUsa appeared to be okay.

"Making it convenient for me how nice." said Kaolinite as she unleashed a series of fireballs at the two girls.

ChibiUsa saw the energy blast coming and with what strength she had left, pushed Hotaru to the side and rolled her body so that she was now on top. Hoping that her connection to the Ginzuishou through the shadow Ginzuishou would protect her, ChibiUsa blocked the attacks with her own body.

Hotaru looked at ChibiUsa in confusion as the girl threw her to the ground, a look that turned to fear as she realized what her friend was doing. Her stomach fell into a bottomless pit as she saw the grimaces cross ChibiUsa's face as blast after blast impacted the small girl. Yet as each hit, ChibiUsa tried to maintain a smile on her face, but finally they were too much and her eyes closed as her body went limp. Hotaru did not know what to do or even say to her unconscious friend as blast after blast kept impacting the small girl, each one causing her friend to twitch. The final few fireballs that Kaolinite threw impacted beside the two girls and tossed them threw the air. As she fell back to the ground, Hotaru's head impacted into the side of a metal drum knocking her out.

"Stupid girl. If she's dead, I'm as good as dead as well." Kaolinite said referring to ChibiUsa's sacrifice. Walking over to check on the pink haired girl she was relieved to find that she was still alive. Picking her up by her pink hair, Kaolinite regarded this child, wondering what was so special about her. Though she guessed she must have great power to still be alive. Now there was only one complication left, Hotaru. Creating a series of fireballs in her hands, Kaolinite turned to kill the black haired child. However, as she did so she was surprised to discover that Hotaru had moved. She was sure that Hotaru had been knocked out; the sound of Hotaru's head hitting the metal drum was very clear. But yet somehow the child had managed to stay conscious, but no problem.

Hotaru had indeed been knocked unconscious when she had hit the drum, but that only knocked one half of her soul asleep. Normally the other half was always asleep, but all evening this second half had been awake. The restlessness she had been feeling was a result of Saturn being awake and her attempts to influence Hotaru's actions. Now with Hotaru slipping into unconsciousness from having her head smashed into the fuel barrel, Saturn took control of their body. If Kaolinite had looked closely at Hotaru as she slumped to the ground, she would have been confused to see a very evil smile appear on that girl's face.

Saturn pretended to be unconscious, lying slumped on the ground until Kaolinite turned her back. Then while Kaolinite was checking on ChibiUsa, Saturn opened her eyes and returned to her feet. Picking up the flashlight that she had dropped, she held it in a hold conducive to using it as a weapon. Then with a quick jump, she bounded up to the second floor of the tower that was being constructed to plan her attack. 

The black haired Senshi watched with a smile on her lips as a confused Kaolinite tried to figure out where her target had disappeared to. Taking advantage of that confusion, Saturn attacked. Leaping down from the assembled I-beams, she clubbed Kaolinite with her heavy flashlight. The momentum of her jump carried her on into Kaolinite, which combined with the bash to the head caused Kaolinite to fall to the ground with Saturn on top of her. Moving quickly, Saturn rolled off opponent and returned to her feet. 

While Kaolinite more slowly returned to her feet, still not fully realizing that she had a fight here, Saturn walked over to where ChibiUsa had been dropped. Picking up the unconscious girl, she carried her over to the fence. Placing her down on the ground, Saturn turned around and walked back over to Kaolinite.

Saturn could see the anger in Kaolinite's eyes and smiled. She was looking forward to extracting her revenge on Kaolinite for what this witch had done to Hotaru. Only when she had had her fun would she then put her out of her misery.

Watching Hotaru causally walk back from where she had placed the pink haired girl, Kaolinite was consumed with the desire to maim this child. She did not understand how this pathetic little child was managing to fight, but she was sure Hotaru would not last long and anyways she was just a child. Prepping a massive fireball, she said, "I am going to make you suffer for what you just did. How dare you attack me!" And with that, Kaolinite unleashed her massive fireball at Hotaru.

Saturn just stood her ground seeming not even to notice the fireball, just letting it come at her. Then at the last minute, she raised her flashlight above her head and swung it straight down, slicing the fireball into two. One half passed to her left and the other to her right both exploding against the fence, instantly melting it. "How dare I?" she asked. "How dare you abuse this body of mine, torture my soul. For those transgressions, I can't forgive you and your punishment will be death. Sailor Uranus and Neptune are quite tame by my standards and don't worry you'll get to experience the full magnitude of my power." 

Kaolinite stood stunned at Hotaru's ability to just slice her attack in half. _What has happened to Hotaru, this is not the same worthless girl._ She was quickly getting the feeling that Hotaru's boost about making Sailor Uranus and Neptune look tame was not some idle boost. Seeing Hotaru pick up a pole and then using it as a makeshift javelin, Kaolinite dodged out of the way. And it was a good thing she did, as the pole exploded upon impact with the ground leaving a nice sized crater. 

However the pole attack had only been a faint and Kaolinite was quickly reward with a shot of pain shooting through her leg as Saturn smashed it with her flashlight. Forced down to the ground by that attack, Kaolinite dropped to one knee. From the pain in her leg, she was certain that she had a cracked bone there. Unleashing a wave of fire, Kaolinite forced Saturn to pull back. Then using her magic to kill the nerves that were still crying out in pain, Kaolinite returned to her feet. Under any other circumstance she would have retreated, however she either successfully completed this mission or her life was forfeit. And furthermore, this girl had to die as well; she could not let her talk to the Sailor Senshi not to mention what Hotaru had done to her pride.

Stepping forward towards the awaiting Saturn, Kaolinite formed two small swords of flame, perfectly sized to parry Saturn's attacks. However, upon seeing this development, Saturn just smiled.

"You are planning on killing me with those pathetic things? You might have a chance if you actually knew how to use them, but you don't. Well however you wish to go." Saturn said

That taunt further infuriated Kaolinite who immediately charged the young warrior. Saturn easily dodged Kaolinite's first slash and then parried the second one. Kaolinite was not too surprised when that flashlight of Hotaru's managed to avoid being sliced into two by her fire sword, she was sure that Hotaru was somehow enhancing it with magic.

Parrying that second slash up and out of the way, Saturn quickly brought her weapon back down and slammed it into Kaolinite side. Staggered by the pain, Kaolinite stumbled back a few steps while she let one of her swords vanish so that she could unleash a set of fireballs. 

Saturn easily dodged those fireballs, but they were simply designed to buy Kaolinite a few moments to recover. Now with more care, she resumed her attack. Though she did not resummon the second sword, instead focusing on just using the one that she had to the best of her ability. Saturn easily parried the first slice and the slice that followed it. As each swing was parried, Kaolinite brought her sword back and attacked again, quickening the pace with each attack. Before long, it was all Saturn could do to keep up with the attacks and her young frame was slowly being forced backwards as Kaolinite began to overpower her. Finally, the inevitable moment came when Saturn failed to parry one of the slices and the witch's sword sliced into her side. 

Her concentration shot, Saturn fell to her knees as the pain became unbearable. The gash was very deep and the heat of the sword had not cauterized the wound. Focusing her energies, Saturn placed a hand over the wound and stemmed her blood loss. Kaolinite, however, did not give her opponent a moment's of rest and slammed a fist into the back of Saturn's head.

Barely holding onto consciousness, Saturn fell to the ground. Quickly rolling to the side, she barely avoided a foot being slammed down in her gut. Needing time to recover, Saturn threw out her hand to summon her protective wall of silence. She summoned the wall just in time to block a slash from Kaolinite's flame sword.

Releasing a sigh of relief as her wall held, Saturn collected her wits and took stock of the situation. This fight was turning out to be harder than she had first figured that it would be, however she still had no doubt that she would be the winner. If need be she would just detonate this whole city block and be done with it. Even still, she wished that she was not forced to use this pathetic flashlight as a makeshift weapon and could instead be fighting with the cold hard metal of her Silence Glaive in her hands. Unfortunately, only Hotaru could summon that weapon. 

The warrior from the most feared planet was not sure why things were so different this time from every other time she had awaken to deal with an evil. Though Saturn figured that it probably had something to do with the energy still remaining from the use of  Ginzuishou when she had been summoned to drop her Glaive and silence the Silver Millennium. That magic had somehow caused her to actually be born again and along with that rebirth to have this other half of her soul, a half that somehow had control over the Silence Glaive.

But this was not the time to ponder those thoughts of existence. Right now, she had a job to do, an evil to kill and revenge to extract. Releasing her Silence Wall, Saturn back flipped away from her attacker. Finding a box of nails on the ground by where she landed, Saturn picked it up and dumped the contents into her hand. The nails themselves were useless as a weapon, however they could serve as carriers of her energy and after charging them with power; she threw them at the red haired witch. 

Kaolinite just stood and watched what she perceived to be Hotaru grasping at straws when the young girl threw the handful of nails at her. However, the smirk on her face quickly vanished as the nails exploded with energy as they hit her skin and the ground. Wounded, Kaolinite stumbled backwards a bit and was barely able to bring her sword up in time to parry Saturn's attacks. The two then proceeded to resume their "sword" fight. 

Quickly it became evident that Saturn's slip from earlier was an indication that she was fading in strength as the movements of the black haired warrior began to slow. Even though she was still parrying all of Kaolinite's strikes, she was not getting them all fully clear of her body. Her body cried out in pain each time she did not get that flame sword fully clear, but she did not let her body flinch from the pain. Instead, she continued to stand her ground and press her own attack.

Deciding that it was time to end this little game, Saturn summoned most of her remaining power and channeled it into her flashlight. Then faking a missed block and taking the resulting strike, she swung at Kaolinite. Kaolinite unprepared for the immediate counter attack was unable to block the blow and the flashlight smashed into her ribs, shattering many of them and cracking others.

Eyes wide with shock as pain more painful than anything that she could comprehend coursed through her side, Kaolinite fell to the ground. As she fell, she found her breathing labored, most likely because some bone fragments had punctured her right lung. Looking up she saw Saturn just regarding her. This time as she looked at the face of the executioner she saw the glowing symbol on the girl's head. _That symbol, is that the source of her power?_ Kaolinite thought in her final moments. _I know that I have seen it before… In that research I did for the professor, that was the symbol for lead in some of the formulas. But, there is something more, something more than just lead. Saturn, that is also the Roman symbol for the god Saturn. Wait, does that mean… It can't be… Hotaru is Sailor Saturn?_ "You're Sailor Saturn aren't you?" Kaolinite said with labored words.

Saturn coldly regarded the fallen foe. Hearing the question, her lips turned up in a very cold smile. "My guardian deity is the planet of Destruction. I am the one who sleeps until she is summoned. I am the Messiah of Silence, I am indeed Sailor Saturn." Saturn said. Then kneeling down beside Kaolinite, she continued, "I have the power to turn planets to dust and dust to life. For your crimes you'll die a thousand painful deaths, reborn and healed after each one so that you can experience the pain again. And now I banish you to the Shadow realm of my planet!" 

As Saturn said those final words, her right hand began to course with the nearly black violet energy of Saturn. Then having sentenced Kaolinite, she slammed her palm down onto Kaolinite's chest. The witch screamed out in utter agony as the energy flowed into her body, shattering it like glass. Saturn's hand continued on down to hit the ground and when it did, the symbol for Saturn vanished from her forehead. Loosing consciousness the child warrior fell to the ground where Kaolinite had lain only moments before.

_______________________________________

Contemplating what she was seeing, Pluto knew that Hotaru, or more correctly Sailor Saturn, had the ability to block the link between Usagi and ChibiUsa. However, that should not have been at play here. The blocking effect should only occur when the power of Saturn was awake. Hotaru appeared to look perfectly normal, which should mean that her planetary energy was still dormant. Yet, the power of Saturn was obviously active. For that to be the case, Sailor Saturn had to be awake and just below Hotaru's consciousness, which meant that the Forbidden Warrior could very well truly awake and take full control of Hotaru's soul.

One of the few constants in this new future they were charting was that the Forbidden Warrior could not awaken. The power of Saturn needed to be passed on and the soldier of Saturn absorbed into a new warrior. This was one of the requirements for the awakening of Sailor Cosmos. The soldier of Saturn that had existed till now was incapable of awakening the soul of the universe. She had to become like the rest of her sisters for Cosmos to awaken.

And if the Forbidden Warrior did awake now, she could very well bring down a final solution that would doom this planet. And even if she chose a less severe solution, it would still be the Forbidden One and not Hotaru who would be Sailor Saturn. And with Serenity's state, she might not be able to survive long enough for Sailor Saturn to be reborn a second time. Not to mention the headaches that would result from convincing Serenity that Sailor Saturn needs to be killed so that she can be reborn as a nice child. No Serenity would never go for that.

Pluto pitied Hotaru for the fate that Time had thrust upon her. She was forced to face hardships to ensure that she and not the Forbidden One became the one who retained control of the soul after integration. The first time Pluto had weaved this part of Time's flow, she did not have that much trouble with what she had to do. But every time she partook in the part of the tapestry that corresponded to the raising of the baby Hotaru it became harder to place that child through these hardships.

But she had to, for she was sworn to protect Usagi and her destiny. Nothing else mattered, everyone including Usagi's family and best friends were expandable. Focusing in on her princess, Pluto knew what she had to do. Ending her "Sight Beyond Sight," Pluto resumed her search for ChibiUsa. At least this time she knew that ChibiUsa was hidden in a construction site. Thinking about that, she realized that she should have expected that. After all, in the original timeline ChibiUsa had hidden in one of those places on that day that the four sisters and Rubeus had all gained up to get her.

Making that connection, Pluto got a hunch as to where ChibiUsa might be hiding. While the changes to the timeline had delayed that particular construction project, there was another one not too far from that location. Dashing along the rooftops to reach that location, Pluto began prepping a massive Dead Scream attack. If what she feared was true, she was likely to find Sailor Saturn awake. In which case there would only be one shot at saving the timeline: she would need to kill Saturn and then using her power to stop time bring that soul to Usagi so that she could use the power of the Ginzuishou to have it reborn. It was a risky gamble, but it was the only safe course that she could see through the rapids of Time.

Finally arriving at the suspected construction site, Pluto dropped to the ground and slowed to brisk walk. She did not want to startle anything hoping that somehow Saturn would not awake. There was always the hope that Hotaru's sickly body would prevent Saturn from being able to take hold for long. Coming up to the edge of the construction site, Pluto peered around a corner and was in for a shock at what she saw. Given Hotaru's sickly nature, she had expected just a massive release of energy from Saturn thereby quickly ending the battle. However instead she saw Hotaru actually engaged in combat with Kaolinite. That was not a good sign, as it meant that Saturn was fully in control of the girl's body and was seemingly able to overcome Hotaru's weakness. Pluto was able to take a little bit of relief in the fact that Saturn had not taken her Sailor form, nor that she was using her Silence Glaive. That gave at least a slight glimmer of hope that Hotaru still existed in there someplace. 

Watching as the battle approached its climax, the time guardian held her breath. For her it was an extremely nerve racking performance as normally she had a general idea of how anything major would play out. She was quickly finding out in this fluid timeline that she did not like being like everyone else with no preknowledge of the future. Hotaru's declaration of being Sailor Saturn caused Pluto's breath to catch and she almost unleashed her attack right there. But she held off and with great relief she saw Hotaru collapse to the ground.

With the battle over, Pluto stepped out of her hiding place and walked forward to check on the two girls. First, she knelt by Hotaru and used the orb to examine the flow of time. Letting out a sigh of relief, she saw that Saturn was still asleep, barely but asleep. Only after she had determined that, did she examine Hotaru's injuries. They were quite extensive, but none appeared to be particularly life threatening. There was one nasty cut, but it looked like it had been cauterized and even slightly healed. Finished with Hotaru, she moved on to ChibiUsa. With great relief, she determined that ChibiUsa was perfectly fine, though she was likely to have a nasty headache when she awoke.

Stepping back from ChibiUsa, she spoke to the two who had come up behind her during her examination of the two girls. "These two need to be seen to. They don't have any major injuries, however the black haired one here has a fair number of minor injuries that should be bandaged." Having given her instructions, Pluto disappeared up into the skyline.

Keffer stopped walking forward when Sailor Pluto had turned to speak to the two of them. Even though he had fought along side the Sailor Senshi in battle, it was still awe inspiring to see one of them up close. Coming back to the situation at hand he realized that he had a slight problem, while the bike could fit two young girls as passengers with some difficulty there was no way he was going to get a third girl on it. However, he now had Diana and two other girls to transport to a hospital.

That particular problem resolved itself almost as soon as Keffer thought of it, as unlike Keffer Diana was not awe inspired by the presence of Pluto. Instead, she increased her pace to run towards the two prone girls, knowing for sure that one of them was ChibiUsa. While she knew that Pluto would not leave Small Lady here if she was seriously injured, she still needed to check on Small Lady's condition herself. As she made the dash, she realized that it might be a good idea to return to her feline form, it would avoid having to explain herself to ChibiUsa plus with Hotaru as well.

Feeling something warm and fuzzy nuzzling against her cheek, ChibiUsa began to stir. With a groggy voice she asked, "Oh what happened?" while she slowly sat up. Feeling a soft thud as something landed in her lap, she looked down and found Diana. Picking up her kitten she asked, "Diana, what are you doing here?"

"You must be this kitten's owner." Keffer said as he walked towards ChibiUsa. "How are you feeling? You don't look too good." Then after a moment he added, "By the way I'm Captain Keffer."

"Blah," ChibiUsa replied to the question of how she was doing, "though I think I'll be okay." _I have felt worse, though telling him that would raise too many questions._ "You can call be ChibiUsa-chan, and that is Hotaru." ChibiUsa said, with obvious concern towards the other girl.

Walking over to where Hotaru lay, Keffer knelt down to check on the black haired girl. Unlike ChibiUsa, Hotaru remained unconscious. However, from his first aid training, Keffer could not find anything that particularly worried him. She had a good pulse and steady breathing, though he could see some nasty cuts on her body, including many where her clothes had been torn as well. Ideally, he would have liked to have had an ambulance come get this child. However, he had forgotten his cell phone at the base and this was not an exactly good part of town to leave these two alone in while he went to call for an ambulance.

Turning back to face ChibiUsa who was still sitting on the ground, he said, "She's been very badly beat up. I am going to need to take her to a doctor. Do you think you can stand up?"

"Hai." ChibiUsa said as she pulled herself up to her feet, already feeling the power of the Moon and the Earth begin to heal her body.

With that settled, Keffer reached down and picked Hotaru up in his arms. Carrying Hotaru over to the rented bike, he waited until ChibiUsa had seated herself on the back. Then very gently he placed Hotaru down in front of ChibiUsa who immediately reached out to hold Hotaru upright in a tight but gentle hug. Picking up the helmet that Diana had worn earlier, he placed it on ChibiUsa. Then taking his own helmet he fiddled with it until he could get it to fit on Hotaru's head. With the two girls all settled, now he just had Diana to take care of. Picking up the kitten from where she was sitting watching on the ground, he placed her part of the way down his jacket so that her head just poked out and then mounted the bike himself. 

ChibiUsa lost in worry over Hotaru as she was did not even think to wonder why this stranger had a second helmet and in particular a child's helmet. Instead, ChibiUsa was trying to figure out what had happened after Kaolinite had knocked her out. She had a feeling that she had been out for a quite a while and Hotaru looked far worse for the wear. ChibiUsa only partially noticed when Keffer got on the bike and more mechanically than anything else reached out with both of her arms to hold onto him, though she did have enough thought to ensure that she was holding Hotaru secure.

Giving the starter a kick, Keffer drove over the barely discernable remains of the property fence and out onto the side road. Keeping the speed of the bike slow, he proceeded down the side road and to its intersection with a main thoroughfare. Coming to a stop at a red light, he felt some movement from behind and figured that the other child might finally be coming to.

Opening her eyes, Hotaru looked around trying to figure out where she was and what was happening. That she was in an entirely different place and position than when she had passed out did not help matters. Finally feeling a warmth behind her, she craned her head to see the now smiling face of ChibiUsa.

"What's going on?" Hotaru finally asked in a weak voice once she realized that she was with ChibiUsa and therefore safe.

"I don't know what happened to the two of you, but it looks like you were at ground zero for one of those demon attacks. You have been hurt pretty badly so I am going to take you to the hospital so that they can look you over and bandage you up." Keffer said having heard Hotaru's question to ChibiUsa.

_Demon attack? Wait that lady in the shadows, she was attacking us? Guess that makes sense._ Hotaru's mind thought as she began to process what Keffer said in conjunction with reviewing her scattered memories. _Wait did he say the hospital?_ "Iie! I can't go to the hospital!" Hotaru cried out

This outburst surprised Keffer and he remained stopped at the light, as it turned green. "What do you mean no? You are hurt, you need medical attention."

"Iie. My dad says that I am not to go to the doctors." Hotaru said emphatically.

_Great one of those people._ Keffer thought to himself, figuring that Hotaru's father most be one of those new age wackos who did not believe in modern medicine. _Well if I want to be thanked instead of being chased off and accused of molesting these two children by her parents, I guess I should just do as she wishes._ "Okay then we won't go to the hospital. How about giving me directions to your house?"

However, after having heard that he had acquiesced, Hotaru slipped back into unconsciousness. "I'll tell you how to get there." ChibiUsa said

_______________________________________

Fifteen minutes later saw Keffer pull up in front of a large mansion. Stopping the bike, he carefully got off before turning back around and lifting the black haired child into his arms. Once Hotaru was off the bike, ChibiUsa hopped off, while Diana wiggled her way out of Keffer's jacket. Free of that enclosure she padded over to ChibiUsa who picked her up and placed her on her head. Seeing how ChibiUsa was carrying Diana, Keffer could only shake his head slightly and smirk.

Now all set, the group walked up to the front door and ChibiUsa reached out and rang the bell, however there was no answer. ChibiUsa tried a couple of more times but again there was no answer. Keffer was a bit concerned by that, but ChibiUsa guessed that Hotaru's father and the other members of the household were just working this evening at the lab. Keffer didn't really think that to be a good excuse for leaving a child home alone, though he did agree that it was plausible. ChibiUsa figured that Hotaru must have a key to the door and so Keffer knelt down so that she could search for it.

ChibiUsa's fingers brushed along Hotaru's neck hunting for the thin chain that Hotaru wore now a days. Finding it, she took a hold of it and pulled it up and out from Hotaru's shirt. The chain held a small locket, which contained a picture of the two of them. ChibiUsa also had a matching chain and locket, they had bought them following Hotaru's first day at school. But the locket was not what ChibiUsa was looking for; instead, what interested her was the house key that was also on that chain. Slipping the chain off of her best friend, ChibiUsa unlocked the house and then slipped the necklace back over Hotaru's head.

With the door unlocked and the chain returned the black haired girl, Keffer picked Hotaru up again and followed ChibiUsa into the mansion. Walking in, he could only gawk at the size of this house, realizing that this child's family must be quite rich given how valuable land was here in Tokyo. ChibiUsa wasted no time in leading Keffer up to Hotaru's room where he then laid the young girl down on the bed. After placing Hotaru down on the bed, he took a moment to take in the room in which he now stood. It had a quite unique décor, though as he looked around he found it be also be very beautiful.

"ChibiUsa-chan I am going to go get some towels, water and bandages for Hotaru. I need you to change your friend out of these soiled clothes and into something loose fitting."

"Hai." ChibiUsa agreed.

Diana followed Keffer out of the room while ChibiUsa walked over to Hotaru's dresser. After rummaging through it for a bit she found a pair of pajamas that she thought would work. They looked like they might be a bit large on Hotaru and at the same time were beat up. While Keffer didn't say so, she had a feeling that something old would be good as well, so that any further bleeding from her friend's wounds wouldn't ruin anything good. She had enough experience with the finer details of wound bandaging from being a Senshi.

With the clothing retrieved, ChibiUsa walked back to the bed and placed them down next to her best friend. Then with extreme effort, she carefully removed Hotaru's clothes. Unfortunately, her friend's habit of wearing tight fighting clothing did not make this an easy task. But her concern and love for her friend prevented this effort from being a chore and kept her from cursing out its extreme difficulty. Then after removing the old clothes, she dressed Hotaru in the clean ones. She finished the task just as Keffer and Diana walked back into the room.

"You've got a smart kitten here." Keffer said referring to how Diana had helped him locate the necessary items. Of course, given that Diana could talk, it was not that surprising. But he was letting ChibiUsa believe that he did not know that Diana could speak. "Now lets see about getting your friend bandaged up. I'm glad to see that you changed her into some old clothing; I had forgotten to mention that to you. Normally it would be best to bandage then change her into new clothing. But that form fitting outfit that she was wearing before just wasn't conducive to that."

Walked over to the bed, Keffer placed the bowl of warm soapy water down next to Hotaru. Then sitting down beside her, he rolled up her shirt so that he could clean the long cut on her stomach. That one looked quite gruesome and he wandered how she had gotten it. But thankfully, it did not seem to be that deep, otherwise she likely would not be here right now. Slowly over the next ten minutes, her cleaned and bandaged her various wounds. Besides the extent of her injures, he was also taken back by how sickly this child in general was. He felt very sorry for this child as he observed her pale skin, braces and reduced body weight. Though as he did so, he began to understand why her father did not want her seeing doctors when she got sick or hurt. Only the regular pediatrician of this child likely would be able to properly diagnose any ailments and not be distracted by the preexisting condition.

Finishing up with the final bandage and rolling the pajama leg back down into place, Keffer turned to look at ChibiUsa. "Now ChibiUsa it's your turn."

"Huh?" the young girl asked, having completely forgotten about her own injuries.

"You've got some nasty scrapes on your body as well plus what looks like some burns on your back. And now that your friend is taken care of, we can get you all cleaned up." Keffer said while standing up. He had of course realized right away that ChibiUsa would have refused to be cleaned until after Hotaru had been taken care of.

ChibiUsa walked over to the bed and sat down where Keffer had been sitting. Picking up a clean towel, Keffer then proceeded to clean ChibiUsa's wounds. None of her wounds needed any bandaging being mostly scrapes and bruises. He had been a bit fearful of what he would find when he treated the burns on her back given that her shirt was blackened. But thankfully, she somehow had managed to get away with only first-degree burns. Finished bandaging the last of the wounds, he told ChibiUsa that she was all set. Then picking up the various supplies he brought up, he headed back downstairs to put them away.

All taken care of; ChibiUsa got up from the bed and returned to Hotaru's closest. Again rummaging through it, she found a second pair of pajamas. Though this time a set that would fit herself reasonably well. Changing into those, she walked back to the bed. Picking up the magazine and manga that were still on the bed, she put them over on Hotaru's desk. Then returning to the bed, she pulled down the covers, a task that was made a tad more difficult by Hotaru laying on them. Once that was done, she crawled into the bed with her best friend and pulled them back up.

As she lay down beside her friend, she saw Hotaru open her eyes slightly. When Hotaru saw her friend she smiled softly and ChibiUsa returned a great big one, while telling her black haired friend that everything would be all right. Hotaru appeared to accept that and smiled even more before drifting off to sleep, though this time in a nice peaceful slumber. Hotaru's contentment increased when, ChibiUsa wrapped the young girl up in a hug and her last remaining conscious thought for that evening was how warm the embrace felt.

Keffer returned from cleaning up just in time to see the little interplay between the two girls. Seeing Hotaru awake even if it was just for a few moments made him feel a lot better, as now he had no doubts that the little girl was going to recover fully. Walking over to the bed, he quietly asked ChibiUsa for her phone number so that he could call her parents. Getting the number he proceeded to head downstairs where he called the Tsukino residence and left them a message telling them that their daughter was spending the night at her friend Hotaru's place, that Hotaru had gotten hurt and ChibiUsa did not seem to want to leave her that night. Unfortunately he only got the answering machine, he would have like to have been able to talk to one of her parents.

That taken care of he took a little time to explore the downstairs of the house before settling down on a couch and turning on the TV. Though first he found a desk and took out a piece of paper, a pen and something to write on and brought those items with him to the couch. For some reason, taking care of these two girls this evening made him want to write home to his parents. So sitting down and partially watching the TV he began to write a letter home, it was his first in quite a many months. Though after this night it would become a regular and frequent occurrence.

Diana had also followed Keffer downstairs, mainly to give him any assistance should he need to find something than to look after him. She curled up beside him on the chair and watched the game show that he had turned on while quietly purring to the petting he was giving her.

Two hours later, Keffer heard the sound of the front door being unlocked. _Okay now for the hard part, not to be seen to be an intruder and attacked._ Keffer thought to himself. Being a military officer, his build would be one to instill concern in the Hotaru's parents under these circumstances. Getting up, he slowly walked towards the front hall while making sure to keep his hands out in front, open, and down. Diana rode on his shoulder while he walked, hoping that whoever it was who had just come home might recognize her and at least give Keffer long enough to explain.

Eudial was a bit surprised to hear the TV when she entered the house. Kaolinite did not watch TV and Hotaru should be up in bed by this time. And even if for some reason Kaolinite had not made it home to put Hotaru to sleep, Hotaru was too well behaved to be trying to sneak in some extra TV. Seeing the stranger walk into the front hall further put her on alert and she instinctively slipped into a fighting stance while at the same time slipping down the backpack she carried, opening it and reaching a hand in. Inside of the backpack, she had a mini version of her patented Fire Buster, one perfect for emergencies such as this.

But even as her fingers closed around the cold metal of the handle, she noticed Diana riding on the stranger's shoulder. Seeing ChibiUsa's kitten here caused her to relax some, she knew Diana well enough to know that the kitten only rode around on people she knew well and trusted, such as ChibiUsa, Hotaru and ChibiUsa's cousin Usagi. Diana had also just recently taken to climbing up around and hanging around herself as well. However, Diana stayed a far distance away from Kaolinite. Figuring that this stranger must be somehow related to ChibiUsa, maybe an older brother of Usagi, Eudial decided to let him explain himself before barbecuing him.

Before Eudial could ask who he was, Keffer introduced himself. "Sorry for startling you like that. My name is Keffer, Warren and I'm a captain in the air force. I'm a friend of Diana here, as I took care of her for a while when she had gotten separated from ChibiUsa some months back. As to why I'm here, I found Hotaru in a construction site injured. I think she might have gotten too close to one of the Sailor Senshi battle. I brought her and ChibiUsa back here and bandaged the two of them up. Since no one else was home, I thought it best that I stayed and waited for someone else to arrive so that I could tell them what happened and also make sure that there was someone to look out after her."

Eudial's face paled as she learned that Hotaru had been hurt. As soon as Keffer finished speaking, she headed up to Hotaru's room to check on her young charge. Entering the room she was not surprised to find ChibiUsa there curled up with her own charge, the two of them sleeping peacefully. Being careful not to disturb either girl, she checked on Hotaru's wounds.

Satisfied with Hotaru's condition she left the room, closing the door. "Arigatoo for taking care of Hotaru. We are in your dept." Eudial said as she joined Keffer in the hallway.

"Don't worry about it." The air force officer replied. "I take it your Hotaru's mom?"

Eudial just smiled and laughed at that, not that she wouldn't mind being Hotaru's mom. "Iie, I'm not. I'm just a graduate student working with professor Tomoe at Mugen Academy. This is his home and he gives me free room and board for helping to take care of it and look after his daughter." Eudial explained. While Keffer was not that familiar with Tomoe's name, he did know of the Mugen Academy and its reputation. 

As the two of them arrived back by the front door, Eudial asked, "You're stationed at the Zama airbase right?"

"Hai." Keffer replied, not exactly sure what this lady was getting to. He was not surprised that she knew the name of his base, as it had pretty much become a household location with the air support for the city defense against those demons coming from that base.

"Well as it is getting quite late and will be even later by the time you get back there. You are free to spend the night here. It is the least we can offer after what you have done for Hotaru."

Keffer was going to argue that since he was on liberty he was not planning on heading back to the base this night. However, at the same time, having a place to spend the night instead of having to find motel room was an appealing idea and would leave him with more of his paycheck left. Plus it would give him the opportunity to see how the two girls were doing in the morning. "Arigatoo for the offer. I don't deserve such a kind offer, but if you insist, I'll stay. Plus I would like to see how those two are doing in the morning."

-End Chapter 28

  
  


End Notes:

Well this chapter is seeing the light of day before summer (though not by that much). And once again, what I thought was going to be short turned out to not be quite so short. Though, guess that it is good news for you my readers in that you get more story to read.

This chapter was also originally not supposed to have any fight scenes in it, but it just seems like I can't write a good Hotaru – ChibiUsa scene lately without having somebody crash their happiness.

Hope you Hotaru fans and Hotaru-ChibiUsa fans liked this chapter. And to just be clear, the Hotaru-ChibiUsa relationship is the same as that of Usagi-Rei and nothing more.

I had been looking for a way to bring Keffer back for another appearance and finally found a way.

The next chapter is well underway, though as I finish up this chapter I wonder if I need to tie up some more loose strings from this and the previous one. Well we'll see what the muses decide.

There was a reference a both another show and a manga in this chapter. You will need to be an old school fan to get the first one (think 80s action cartoons), though the second one any reader of Sohen Jump should be able to get.

As for things to look forward to in future chapters: the return of Clark and a cameo by President Jack Ryan, the final displaced person, Q going "Oh H*ll", Rubeus happy and of course the mother of all battles. Oh and Ami might come up with another experiment that has the potential for killing Sailor Senshi again, but of course what do you expect when you play with the Ginzuishou?

And now time for another fanfiction that you may want to check out: "The Secret is Out" by Comet Moon. It is deals with an interesting premise of Ikuko checking on her daughter one night and finding her missing and the resulting consequences of that. While it is a crossover, that is not till the later chapters and even if you don't want to read a crossover, I suggest that you read the first ten or so chapters at least. Another good one to check out is "I Could Only Watch" by k340029, for this one you will have to go to ASMR. And just for the record my Hotaru-Saturn scene was written before I read this story, but as you can guess I like her premise. And a good silly story to read when you don't want anything series is "Nuke 'em Till They Glow" by Benjamin A Oliver. The earlier chapter are quite amusing, though the later ones don't quite work for me as well. You can find this one at www.fanfic.net

And if you have come across any gems out there, send them my way. There are many good stories out there; unfortunately, I no longer have the time to look for them. Of course sending them my way might not be a good idea if you want me to finish this story anytime soon, as you would end up distracting me from delivering my next chapter to you my loyal readers.

  


Till next time, Enjoy


	31. Prelude to Venus

Chapter 31: "Prelude to Nurse Venus"  
  
"Usagi are you ready to go?" Ikuko called up.  
  
"Just a minute mom." Usagi replied for the sixth time   
  
from her room before turning back to her suitcase.   
  
Picking up the last few articles of clothing from her   
  
bed, she placed them in her bag and closed it. Or at   
  
least that was her intention, but the bag refused to   
  
close. Struggling against it, she repeatedly attempted to   
  
force it closed.   
  
ChibiUsa who was sitting on the floor by the door was   
  
quite amused by her mother's efforts. Not able to keep   
  
her mouth shut any longer, she said, "You would think   
  
with all the weight you must put on from eating   
  
everything in sight, you would have no trouble forcing   
  
that suitcase closed."  
  
Instantly forgetting about the bag she was attempting to   
  
force closed, Usagi cried out "Why you little spore!" why   
  
lunging towards ChibiUsa.  
  
"Usagi, ChibiUsa" an impatient Kenji called from the   
  
bottom of the stairs.  
  
Hearing Kenji-papa's call, ChibiUsa quickly left Usagi's   
  
room and headed downstairs to safety. Left alone, Usagi   
  
turned back to her bag, which because of the recent   
  
distraction had spilled some of its contents back out.   
  
* * * * *  
  
When ChibiUsa walked out the front door of the house a   
  
few minutes later, it was just as another car was pulling   
  
up in front of the Tsukino household. Parking her car,   
  
the driver got out and walked over to where the Tsukinos   
  
were packing their car to apologize for her tardiness.  
  
"Forgive me Tsukino Kenji-san, Ikuko-san for my   
  
tardiness. I was unfortunately detained at the hospital   
  
longer than I had anticipated, but that is no excuse for   
  
delaying you on your trip." The blue haired woman said in   
  
an apologetic voice.  
  
"Don't worry about it Mizuno-san, Usagi is still packing   
  
and I never expected to be pulling out of here till at   
  
least fifteen minutes from now, so your delay didn't cost   
  
us anytime." Replied Kenji.   
  
"By the way how is Ami doing?" Ikuko asked in reference   
  
to Mercury's own injuries from the battle a week ago.   
  
"Usagi had said that she had gotten beat up pretty badly   
  
in the battle."  
  
"She is pretty much all recovered. Though, I am still   
  
having a hard time grasping how these girls are able to   
  
heal so fast." Rikou replied  
  
"I can imagine. I have a hard enough time myself, but you   
  
being a doctor have much firmer understanding of how long   
  
they should take to heal." responded Ikuko.  
  
"Hai, though she was still down for a few days last   
  
weekend. I know that if I hadn't learned her secret, she   
  
would have been up and about pretending that nothing was   
  
wrong. But as much as she might not like hearing it and I   
  
might not want to admit it, she is a weaker warrior than   
  
the others. And as a result she can't take quite the same   
  
punishment, however a weekend of bed rest seemed to have   
  
been fine for her."  
  
"And I am assuming that as long as she had her study   
  
materials she didn't have any problem with it?" Ikuko   
  
asked, a bit envious with regards to Ami's study habits.  
  
"Hai, she found ways to keep herself fully occupied over   
  
the weekend. Though next time I think I will forbid her   
  
from doing research while she is recovering. That   
  
requires me carting way too many books back and forth to   
  
her bed." Mizuno-san said.  
  
Both Ikuko and Kenji smirked at that. Neither had   
  
actually seen Ami's study habits, though they had heard   
  
Ami whine about only being a dozen chapters ahead of the   
  
class various times when the girls had been over.  
  
"Well I better go see to Usagi's wing." The doctor said,   
  
before taking her leave and heading on in.   
  
Climbing the stairs to the second floor, she walked down   
  
the hallway to Usagi's room. Even before she opened the   
  
door, she knew what Usagi was up to, the sounds of a   
  
struggle with a suitcase were all to clear.  
  
* * * * *  
  
After an umpteenth attempt to close the bag, Usagi   
  
finally gave in, opened the suitcase back up and began   
  
removing some items. Taking the three items out of her   
  
bag she placed them in a pile on her bed and tried to   
  
close the bag again and this time was easily able to lock   
  
the latches. Taking a second look at the small pile of   
  
clothing, she couldn't see how that little amount that   
  
she removed could have been the difference between easily   
  
closing her bag and being unable to.   
  
Hearing a light knock on her door, Usagi turned and   
  
cheerfully said, "Hi" to Mizuno-san.  
  
"You look to be doing well Usagi-chan." The older woman   
  
replied. "How is your wing feeling?"  
  
"It's still a bit sore and as you have suggested I   
  
haven't tried putting any weight on it yet." Usagi   
  
replied as the blue haired doctor walked over and removed   
  
the bandage.  
  
Looking over the wing, Mizuno-san first examined where   
  
the smaller wounds had been. However, as was the case a   
  
couple of days earlier in the week, there was no trace of   
  
those injuries. Unfortunately, the same could not be said   
  
for the one that had punched a hole through muscle and   
  
nicked a bone. That wound was taking its good old time to   
  
heal, though the hole had finally closed up.  
  
Before rebandaging the last remaining wound, she had   
  
Usagi move her wing around so that she could make sure   
  
that Usagi was not loosing any motion of her wing. Unlike   
  
a week ago when she had first treated these injuries of   
  
Usagi, she now had at least a partial idea of how to   
  
treat wing injuries. Over the weekend, her daughter had   
  
researched veterinary medicine for the treatment of wing   
  
injuries. And as a consequence she now at least had a   
  
basic idea of what she was doing and more importantly   
  
what sorts of complications that she needed to be on the   
  
lookout for. And while this last injury was taking its   
  
time, it appeared to be doing just fine. After warning   
  
Usagi, she probed the new skin with her fingers, looking   
  
for tender spots and other indications that the muscle   
  
was not healing correctly. Hearing no complaints from   
  
Usagi and seeing no visible reason to cover the skin with   
  
a bandage, she told Usagi what she had found.  
  
"Well it looks like your wing has mostly healed. That   
  
final wound has now fully closed up, so you no longer   
  
need to keep it bandaged. Though I don't know how long it   
  
will take before you regrow your feathers over that   
  
region."  
  
"Arigatoo for taking care of my wounds Mizuno-san." Usagi   
  
replied, happy that she didn't have to mess with changing   
  
bandages anymore. "Can I fly again?"  
  
Mizuno-san thought about that one for a bit. "While it   
  
looks like everything is healed, I would avoid rushing   
  
anything. You are spending time with relatives this   
  
weekend, so you wouldn't get a chance then anyways. And   
  
with the way you all heal, that should be sufficient to   
  
take care of my worry. However, when you do get back, I   
  
would suggest not stressing it too much at first. Try   
  
just doing some low level gliding for the first day or   
  
two and then after that begin building up the active   
  
flying. However, if you feel any pain, pull back and let   
  
it heal some more. You injured a muscle and you will need   
  
to allow it time to regain its strength. If you push it   
  
too fast, you can seriously injure it and you can face a   
  
sudden fall as your wing suddenly gives out again like it   
  
did last week.  
  
"Hai." Usagi replied with an unpleasant expression on her   
  
face as she remembered the pain of that fall.  
  
"Well you have a fun time out in the country." Mizuno-san   
  
said   
  
"I will." Usagi said with a large smile after which   
  
Mizuno-san turned and left.  
  
Alone again, Usagi took a final look around her room,   
  
making sure that she hadn't missed anything. Though how   
  
she would be able to take anything if she did find   
  
something was a good question. Checking her desk, she   
  
found her schoolbooks piled in a nice orderly stack there   
  
(there was no way she was going to ruin a little weekend   
  
trip like this to her aunt's with homework). The   
  
Ginzuishou was safely nestled in her broach and affixed   
  
to the front of her blouse and she couldn't think of   
  
anything else that she needed to check on.  
  
Returning to her bed, she got her bag and headed out the   
  
door. Walking down the stairs and into the living room,   
  
she stopped to pick up Luna and placed the black cat on   
  
her shoulder so that the two of them could talk as she   
  
walked out. "Now, Luna behave yourself while we are gone.   
  
No throwing any wild parties."  
  
Luna scoffed at that remark, She's telling me to behave   
  
myself? "Are you sure you don't want any of the others   
  
to come along? Haruka, Michiru or Setsuna could easily   
  
follow you guys up and stay somewhere nearby should you   
  
need them."  
  
"Luna my mind is final, everyone is to stay here. This is   
  
where they are needed, not out in the countryside   
  
protecting me." Usagi said forcibly. "I will be fine.   
  
Unlike Beryl, Rubeus does not have a personal vendetta   
  
against me and anyways he seems strictly interested in   
  
causing trouble here in Tokyo. And I'm sorry that you   
  
can't come, but my aunt does not like cats. Gomen Nasai,   
  
Luna." Usagi said, the last part addressing the real   
  
reason why Luna had been so insistent the last few days   
  
that she take some of the others with her.  
  
After getting a goodbye head scratch from Usagi, Luna   
  
jumped off of her charge's shoulder and walked over to   
  
Mizuno-san's car. Arriving at the car she was picked up   
  
by Rikou who held Luna in her arms while she watched the   
  
Tsukinos all pile into their car. Then as the Kenji   
  
pulled out into the street and started their drive, Rikou   
  
gave them a wave before finally heading to her own car.   
  
Opening the passenger door, she placed Luna down on the   
  
seat before going around to get in on the other side.   
  
Closing the door she watched as the Tsukinos pulled out   
  
of their driveway and left.  
  
Reaching over to the other seat, Rikou petted Luna for a   
  
bit while telling the worried feline, " "Don't worry Luna   
  
she'll be fine."  
  
"Hai, I know. It's just that since I awoke her power I   
  
have never been away from her for more than a few hours   
  
at a time. Even when she is at school I am often up in a   
  
tree outside. I know it's silly, but there was a blood   
  
moon this morning and it makes me afraid that something   
  
is going to happen."  
  
Rikou gave a knowing smile for she had had many of the   
  
same worries these past few weeks, knowing that her own   
  
child was constantly putting her life on the line.   
  
Putting the car into gear, she pulled away from the   
  
Tsukino house.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Around seven that evening, the Tsukinos pulled off the   
  
country highway and started down the driveway to their   
  
destination. The car had barely come to stop before the   
  
back doors opened and the three children bailed out of   
  
the car, eager to stretch their legs and to get away from   
  
being in such close quarters with each other. The parents   
  
followed them out of the car at a bit more sedate pace,   
  
but also just as happy that the trip was over.  
  
Before they got the chance to remove a single bag from   
  
the car, the door to the house swung open and Auntie   
  
Misaki bounded out. Spotting the children, she made a   
  
beeline to each of them. She first pulled Shingo into a   
  
bone-crushing hug and then proceeded to do the same to   
  
Usagi. A youma trying to kill me is gentler than Auntie   
  
Misaki. But I love her just the same. Usagi thought as   
  
her face began to turn a bit blue.   
  
ChibiUsa looked on with amusement that was quickly   
  
begging to turn to horror as Usagi's face began to change   
  
color. Feeling a comforting hand on her shoulder,   
  
ChibiUsa looked up and behind to see the warm smile on   
  
Ikuko-mama's face. The older woman softly told her that   
  
everything would be okay, having had expected this   
  
reaction from ChibiUsa.  
  
After what seemed like an eternity for Usagi, Misaki   
  
finally released her niece, but not completely. One hand   
  
loosely held onto Usagi's left arm, while her other hand   
  
took a hold of some of Usagi's hair. Examining it, she   
  
asked, "Usagi what did you do to your hair?" horrified   
  
that Usagi might have dyed her beautiful hair.  
  
"Nothing really." Well nothing other than channeling a   
  
few thousand mega joules of energy through my body. "It   
  
has been turning silver for about the past year. Till   
  
recently, I fought the change by constantly dying my   
  
hair, not wanting to have gray hair. But one day I just   
  
decided that I liked the silver hair and since then, I   
  
have not done anything to it. What do you think?" Usagi   
  
asked as she stepped back and slowly twirled so that her   
  
aunt could get a good look.  
  
"Yes you are right it does look good on you." Misaki   
  
replied. Then really noticing for the first time that   
  
there was a third child here, Misaki turned to her sister   
  
and asked. "Ikuko, since when did you have another   
  
daughter?"  
  
Ikuko smiled in response Not a daughter, but would you   
  
believe a granddaughter? she thought to herself before   
  
responding. "Nope she is not mine. Though when she has   
  
her hair done the same way as Usagi it sure looks like   
  
it." Ikuko said addressing the obvious similarities   
  
between the two girls and hoping that that would satisfy   
  
any potential questions in that direction. "She is   
  
actually the daughter of a second cousin on Kenji's side   
  
of the family. Peculiarly enough her name is also Usagi.   
  
I guess there is must be something about being named   
  
Usagi and wearing your hair up in Odangos."  
  
That comment earned her an unhappy look from both Usagi   
  
and ChibiUsa. However, Usagi was not able to elaborate on   
  
the look she gave her mother, as her father choose that   
  
moment to give her a bunch of stuff to take inside.   
  
"Well it is nice to meet your Usagi-chan." Misaki said   
  
before pulling her newest relative into a bone-crushing   
  
hug. Then releasing the child, she said to Ikuko, "I   
  
guess it must get a bit confusing with two Usagis   
  
around."  
  
"It's not that bad, as this one here has been going by   
  
ChibiUsa the whole time she has been with us." Ikuko said   
  
while lightly laying a hand on ChibiUsa's head. "That is   
  
even what she goes by at school and her friends call her   
  
by, if you can believe it."  
  
Misaki raised an eyebrow to that. Though she guessed that   
  
it was somewhat reasonable, a way to distinguish herself   
  
from her older cousin. Then turning to back to the little   
  
girl. "Well then ChibiUsa-chan it is. I think I can   
  
remember that. And please just call me Auntie Misaki."  
  
"Ok, Auntie Misaki." ChibiUsa replied.  
  
"I take it that ChibiUsa has been with you a while?"   
  
Misaki asked after returning to her feet  
  
"Hai," Kenji replied, having just come back out from the   
  
house. "She has been with us for some months now and will   
  
be with us for at least a few more. Her parents moved   
  
overseas before she was born. However, they want their   
  
daughter to know of her Japanese heritage and decided to   
  
have her live in Japan for a while. As luck turns out we   
  
ended up being the best choice for the job and for the   
  
time being she has become another member of our family."   
  
Kenji explained, parts of which were not too far from the   
  
truth.  
  
"It must be tough for such a young child to be away from   
  
home for so long." Misaki said as the three of them   
  
headed into the house.  
  
"Hai it is." Ikuko said. "And there are times when she   
  
misses her parents very much and I know she would like to   
  
be able to go home. However, most of the time she is able   
  
to handle the situation quite well. Amazingly, Usagi is a   
  
big part of that; she helped ChibiUsa make the transition   
  
quite well. The first few weeks, ChibiUsa was a wreck,   
  
but Usagi got her through it and now I am more likely to   
  
have to save ChibiUsa from a vengeful Usagi after one of   
  
her pranks than having to deal with homesickness."  
  
* * * * *  
  
Not long after the car was unloaded, everyone sat down   
  
for dinner, which was not a moment too soon for the two   
  
Usagis. Conversation during the meal mainly focused on   
  
ChibiUsa, with Misaki wanting to know as much as possible   
  
about this new relative. By the end of the meal, the   
  
family was very glad that they had given into Luna's   
  
insistence that they practice ChibiUsa's cover story   
  
multiple times the previous night, as otherwise there was   
  
no way that they would have been able too keep it   
  
coherent under all of Misaki's questioning.   
  
Over the course of dinner Ikuko noticed as her daughter   
  
seemed to withdraw from the conversation, after a while   
  
not even reacting to the barbs that ChibiUsa would throw   
  
her way. Ikuko hoped that Usagi's behavior was just a   
  
result of being cooped up in the car for the long ride   
  
and nothing more serious, particularly not indicating   
  
some kind of Sailor problem. With everyone else focused   
  
on ChibiUsa during the meal, Ikuko was the only one to   
  
notice Usagi's behavior. When the meal finally ended,   
  
Usagi and Ikuko stayed at the table to clean up while the   
  
others went to get the telescope.   
  
"Honey, are you feeling okay?" Ikuko asked once the   
  
others were out of the room, in case something more than   
  
just the car ride was bothering her daughter.  
  
Usagi put down the dishes she was carrying into the sink   
  
before responding, "Am not sure, I kind of feel a little   
  
out of it." Usagi said, trying to voice what she was   
  
feeling, but not really finally feeling the right words.   
  
Relieved that nothing more serious than maybe a cold was   
  
bothering Usagi, Ikuko replied, "You are probably just   
  
tired out from the car ride. It was a long trip and even   
  
though you slept for most of it, it was not a restful   
  
sleep for your body."  
  
Usagi thought about that and decided that her mother's   
  
explanation made a lot of sense. These wings she had   
  
gotten from her battle with Beryl could at times be quite   
  
inconvenient and this was one of those times. A long   
  
drive crammed in the back seat of the car was never very   
  
comfortable and having wings made it even less so. And   
  
while she did ride here with her wings pulled in,   
  
figuring that would be more comfortable and less likely   
  
to cause a problem should she forget to pull them in   
  
before getting out of the car, there was that strain   
  
associated with just having them pulled in and she could   
  
feel her body wanting to let her wings out.  
  
As if reading her mind with regards to letting her wings   
  
out, Ikuko suggested, "You might want to skip the   
  
stargazing tonight and get a good night's rest. Plus it   
  
will let you really stretch out after that car ride."   
  
Ikuko finished.  
  
"Hai," a less than happy Usagi agreed. She did not want   
  
to miss tonight's stargazing that was one of the   
  
highlights of trips to her aunt's. And it was something   
  
that now that she was Sailor Moon that she wanted to do   
  
even more so, so that she could get a good look with her   
  
own eyes at the birthplaces of her warriors. And right   
  
now Jupiter, Mars, and Saturn were all visible in the   
  
night sky.  
  
However, even though she had agreed that skipping the   
  
stargazing was the best idea, Usagi still headed out to   
  
the back porch after she was finished helping her mother   
  
clear the table. If she was not going to be able to gaze   
  
through the telescope, she was still going to take this   
  
opportunity to look at the night sky. Plus it felt great   
  
out this night.  
  
Most times, Usagi and her mother were the last of the   
  
group to be ready, but this night the others were still   
  
in the house. Though Usagi figured that their delay was   
  
probably caused by Auntie Misaki showing ChibiUsa her   
  
collection of star maps, model rockets and other related   
  
paraphernalia. And so she spent her time waiting by   
  
gazing at the moon, which had recently risen, feeling a   
  
bit refreshed just by being in its rays. About ten   
  
minutes later Shingo and ChibiUsa finally came out onto   
  
the porch and not long after that her mom, dad and aunt.  
  
"Everyone ready?" Kenji asked.  
  
Getting up from where she had been sitting, Usagi said,   
  
"Oji-san I think I may be coming down with something. And   
  
so I am going to go to bed early tonight."  
  
"You sure about that?" Kenji asked, knowing how much his   
  
daughter had been looking forward to this stargazing.  
  
"Hai,"  
  
"Well, feel better and maybe tomorrow night we can look   
  
for rabbits on the Moon." her dad said.  
  
"Dad!" Usagi replied in mock indignation over his usual   
  
astronomy joke for her, though of course now it held a   
  
lot more truth than he had known when he first made it   
  
eight years earlier.  
  
Before heading in, Usagi walked over to her aunt to give   
  
the older lady her apologies. Though, Misaki did not give   
  
her chance to even begin apologizing, as she instead   
  
immediately pulled the teenager into a quick hug.   
  
Sensitive to Usagi feeling ill, this time her hug was   
  
less bone crushing and shorter. Releasing the silver   
  
haired girl, she said, "Get a good night's rest and to   
  
make sure you are back to yourself tomorrow I'll make you   
  
some of my special pancakes in the morning."  
  
"Hai," Usagi happily though sedately agreed, a further   
  
indication to all present that she was definitely coming   
  
down with something.  
  
They waited until Usagi disappeared into the house before   
  
beginning their hike out to the field where they were   
  
going to set up the telescope. Ikuko walked beside   
  
ChibiUsa during the short hike and let a gap open up   
  
between the two of them and the other three members of   
  
the family so that she could ask ChibiUsa a question. "I   
  
would have thought her Senshi powers would keep her from   
  
getting sick."  
  
Chuckling at memories from her past trip into the past   
  
that were triggered by that comment, ChibiUsa replied,   
  
"Nope, not at all, though by my time, they rarely get   
  
sick and generally not for long. However, I have seen all   
  
of them completely knocked out by a flue bug that was   
  
going around Tokyo. A bug that even you got, which left   
  
me and Minako the only ones unaffected and responsible   
  
for taking care of everyone."  
  
Not realizing that ChibiUsa was talking about the   
  
timeline which no longer existed, Ikuko was about to ask   
  
the child what she was referring to, since she hadn't had   
  
anything more serious than a minor cold in the past few   
  
years. But then just as she was opening her mouth to   
  
voice her puzzlement, she realized that ChibiUsa was   
  
referring to the previous timeline and quickly closed her   
  
mouth. Silently she scolded herself for almost committing   
  
that faux pas and opening a can of worms that they did   
  
not need to address on this trip. Though she was   
  
intrigued by how ChibiUsa had voiced that she and Minako   
  
were the ones taking care of everyone, as if that was   
  
some kind of problem. Voicing her confusion, she asked,   
  
"So what was the problem with you and Minako taking care   
  
of everybody."  
  
"Well there was no problem with the care I gave."  
  
"Of course." Ikuko replied.  
  
"However, Minako is Minako." ChibiUsa said.  
  
That response was not much of an answer. Thinking about   
  
ChibiUsa's response, Ikuko knew Minako to be a very   
  
energetic and outgoing child, much like her own daughter,   
  
if not more so. And while Minako utterly minced any   
  
standard saying, that did not seem to be anything that   
  
could be a real issue. Plus Minako did not seem to ever   
  
be bothered by any of those. Furthermore, she did not   
  
seem to be the type of person for whom failures meant   
  
anything other than needing to try harder next time.   
  
Reaching that point in her pondering, Ikuko began to see   
  
the potential problem and as it became more apparent she   
  
said, "Uh, oh."  
  
"Hai, lets see. She tried to poison Ami, Makoto, Rei and   
  
Usagi. Blew up a couple of stereos after killing their   
  
eardrums. Oh and she lost control of the vacuum cleaner   
  
when trying to clean the house for you and flooded the   
  
laundry room when doing your laundry."  
  
Ikuko's face just went white as she imagined the   
  
disasters that ChibiUsa was describing. Making a mental   
  
note to herself, Ikuko decided that should she ever think   
  
she was going to be knocked out with some kind of illness   
  
or injury she would immediately hire a maid service   
  
before Minako could even think of volunteering to help.   
  
Haruka-san or Michiru-san would probably good allies to   
  
enlist in keeping her home Minako free as well.  
  
"There is a reason why Momma had to sign a treaty with   
  
other systems stating that she agreed that care of   
  
prisoners by Venus is considered a crime against sentient   
  
life." ChibiUsa added.  
  
That added bit caused Ikuko to break out with her own   
  
laughs. Thankfully, enough distance had opened up between   
  
them and the others that she didn't have to try to   
  
explain what she had found so funny to her sister.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"You should be able to see the rings of Saturn, their   
  
inclination with Earth right now makes them quite   
  
visible." Misaki said as she finished focusing the   
  
telescope in on the gas giant. As was the case with the   
  
Crab Nebula and every other object they had looked at   
  
this evening, ChibiUsa made sure that she was the first   
  
one to look at the planet after Misaki.  
  
Even though she had visited the colonies, seeing the   
  
various planets up close, there was something special   
  
about viewing them from here on Earth with Misaki.   
  
Looking through the telescope, she gasped at the majesty   
  
of Saturn. Looking at Saturn was even more special than   
  
the other planets as she had never before seen Saturn or   
  
Pluto. Amazingly this was the first time in her life that   
  
she had done any serious stargazing that is using a   
  
telescope. The only reason she had seen the other planets   
  
was because she had either been on them or on a colony in   
  
orbit of said planet and consequently since Pluto and   
  
Saturn had no colonies she had never seen either of those   
  
two planets before.  
  
A few years before the Dark Moon attack she had asked   
  
Mercury-sensei why there were no colonies in orbit of   
  
Saturn or Pluto. Unfortunately the multi-hour long she   
  
got as an answer did not make things any more clear. She   
  
did somewhat understand the part about soon after the   
  
death of a Sailor Senshi a replacement would be born from   
  
the colonies on or in orbit of her planet. That part made   
  
sense, since a Mars born should really be the Senshi of   
  
Mars and not say a Jupiter born child. But the   
  
explanations of why Saturn and Pluto were special, she   
  
did not follow at all.   
  
Finished with looking at Saturn, ChibiUsa moved away from   
  
the telescope so that the others could have a look.   
  
Shingo was the first to follow and then followed by Kenji   
  
and Ikuko with Misaki taking a final look after all of   
  
the others.  
  
Seeing Misaki pull back from the telescope, Kenji said,   
  
"Well that is probably enough for tonight. It is time for   
  
these two to get some sleep."  
  
Shingo and ChibiUsa reluctantly agreed and helped to   
  
gather up the supplies from the evening's stargazing.  
  
"So what did you like looking at the most?" Misaki asked   
  
the two children.  
  
"The Horse head Nebula" replied Shingo  
  
"And how about you ChibiUsa?"  
  
ChibiUsa thought of the various planets and nebula they   
  
had looked at, trying to think of which one she liked the   
  
best. As she ran down the list she found that she did not   
  
have a favorite, or at least that was the case until she   
  
got to the last object they had looked at, Saturn. It   
  
wasn't really any more spectacular, in fact some of the   
  
nebula looked better. But for some reason she felt a   
  
comforting feeling looking at the planet as if it would   
  
protect her, in much the same way that her mother's smile   
  
made her feel safe. Voicing those thoughts, she said   
  
"Saturn."  
  
"Saturn does look quite beautiful tonight with its   
  
rings." Ikuko said.  
  
"Hai, it does." ChibiUsa replied. "But I just like it."   
  
she added, explaining what she liked about it.  
  
Kenji and Ikuko just smiled in response to that,   
  
wondering if the reason why ChibiUsa liked it was because   
  
of its Sailor Senshi. Neither of them could remember any   
  
of the girls being introduced as Sailor Saturn, but that   
  
meant nothing from when ChibiUsa came from.  
  
Not long after that, they arrived back at the house.   
  
After first stopping in the bathroom to brush her teeth,   
  
she headed to her and Usagi's room and got changed for   
  
bed. Turning off the room's light she subconsciously   
  
walked over to where Usagi lay sleeping first and sat   
  
down beside her. She did not know why she wanted to come   
  
over by her mother and so she just sat there until a   
  
content feeling coursed through her body. Satisfied she   
  
walked over to her own sleeping bag, crawled in and went   
  
to sleep.   
  
* * * * *  
  
All too soon as far as ChibiUsa was concerned morning   
  
came. She tried to stay in bed and get some more sleep,   
  
but the bright morning sun soon ended that battle.   
  
Finally admitting defeat, ChibiUsa opened her eyes and   
  
stretched. Looking across the room, she saw where Usagi   
  
was still sleeping. Leaving Usagi asleep, ChibiUsa   
  
quietly dressed herself before leaving the room.  
  
"Well good morning ChibiUsa-chan." Misaki said as she saw   
  
the still sleepy child walk into the dining room. "Did   
  
you sleep well?"  
  
"Morning, Auntie Misaki. And, Hai I did." ChibiUsa   
  
replied, to which her tummy grumbled its desire to be   
  
fed.  
  
Misaki just smiled to that while telling ChibiUsa to sit   
  
down at the table while she walked into the kitchen. "If   
  
you think you can wait a few more minutes to feed that   
  
tummy of yours, I'll make up some blueberry pancakes for   
  
you."  
  
"Suigoi!" ChibiUsa replied.   
  
The young girl did not have to wait long before Misaki   
  
brought her a nice tall stack of pancakes to eat.   
  
"Arigatoo Auntie-Misaki."  
  
"Your welcome ChibiUsa-chan. Ikuko told me that you have   
  
an appetite similar to Usagi, so I hope this will be   
  
sufficient for you." ChibiUsa nodded an agreement that   
  
the stack looked sufficiently large. "Speaking of Usagi   
  
how is she doing?"  
  
Taking a break from stuffing her mouth with pancake,   
  
ChibiUsa replied, "Sleeping, I'll wake her after I finish   
  
breakfast. Blueberry pancakes are sure to get her up."  
  
"Hai." Agreed Misaki, knowing how easy it could be to   
  
motivate her niece with food.  
  
The rest of ChibiUsa's breakfast passed with just the   
  
sound of her munching on the pancakes, though as usual   
  
that did not last that long. Finished with her meal,   
  
ChibiUsa said, "Those were very good, thank you again   
  
Auntie Misako." as she got up from the table.  
  
"Glad that you enjoyed them ChibiUsa-chan. Here I'll take   
  
those from you, you go see to your cousin." Misaki said   
  
as she took ChibiUsa's dishes.  
  
"Hai," ChibiUsa replied as she took her leave. Arriving   
  
at the door to her and Usagi's room, she quietly opened   
  
it and entered. Walking to where Usagi was sleeping on   
  
the floor, she knelt down beside her mother and softly   
  
said, "Okaa-san, Auntie Misaki is making blueberry   
  
pancakes for you."   
  
"Blueberry pancakes?" came the enthusiastic reply from   
  
Usagi as her body made a sudden transition from being   
  
dead to the world to being full of energy. Sitting up she   
  
turned to face ChibiUsa and could smell the blueberries   
  
on the young girl's breath. But as she did so she found   
  
that she needed to put a hand down on the ground to   
  
steady her body, finding herself to be a little light   
  
headed.  
  
"Okaa-san are you ok?" ChibiUsa worriedly asked as she   
  
saw Usagi sway.  
  
"Don't worry, I think I am just coming down with a bug.   
  
But I am sure those pancakes will make me feel better."   
  
Usagi said trying to sound cheerful. "Here help me up."   
  
she asked the younger girl.  
  
Grabbing a hold of Usagi's offered hand, ChibiUsa helped   
  
to pull the teenager to her feet. Standing all of the way   
  
up, Usagi paused for a moment to take stock of how she   
  
was feeling. She still felt a little woozy, but not   
  
enough that she felt she was in danger of falling back   
  
down. Along with the woozy feeling, there was a distinct   
  
sense of being sick, but she could not pin down anything   
  
being wrong in particular. She just felt overall sick,   
  
and unfortunately, that probably did mean that she had   
  
indeed come down with a nasty little cold bug and would   
  
likely be out for the rest of the weekend. Now why   
  
couldn't I get this cold bug at a better time, like say   
  
during the school week? Usagi silently complained to   
  
herself. While going back to sleep was a very tempting   
  
option, the call of blueberry pancakes was even more so.   
  
And anyways, Usagi told herself that she could always   
  
return to the bed after getting her fill of pancakes.  
  
Usagi was about to start walking to the door, when she   
  
remembered that she could not go walking around the house   
  
with her wings out. But that was no problem; it took just   
  
a simple thought to initiate the magic that hid her   
  
wings. Before the trip, she had given a fair bit of   
  
thought to the whether she wanted to sleep with her wings   
  
pulled in or not. While pulling them in theory would take   
  
care of the possibility of forgetting to pull them in   
  
before leaving her room (as she almost just did), there   
  
were the issue of it being quite uncomfortable to keep   
  
them pulled in for extended periods of time and now even   
  
more so with her wing injury.  
  
The issue of what to do with her wings had even been the   
  
topic of a recent meeting, with Minako pointing out on   
  
that part that Usagi was going to need to make sure that   
  
she got a single when she went off to college. When Ami   
  
had pointed out that singles were often hard to get for   
  
freshmen, the blonde had just replied that Ami with her   
  
computer could take care of that and then let her mind   
  
wonder to other hacking that Ami could do, a train of   
  
thought that was quenched soon after by Rei and Makoto.  
  
Smiling at the memory of how that conversation ended,   
  
Usagi initiated the magic to look like anyone else. All   
  
set, she turned to look at ChibiUsa while reaching out a   
  
hand to take her daughter's hand. However, she never   
  
finished turning around, as her turning was accompanied   
  
by a sudden collapse to the floor, unconscious.  
  
ChibiUsa watched like a deer caught in headlights as her   
  
mother fell to the ground, unable to move her body. It   
  
was only the sound of Usagi's upper body hitting the mats   
  
that snapped ChibiUsa into motion. The young girl cried   
  
out in a sob "Usagi!" which while forceful was not loud,   
  
not that she was thinking at the moment about the need to   
  
avoid drawing Aunt Misaki's attention, while also lunging   
  
towards Usagi.  
  
Usagi lay on the floor for a few moments as her world   
  
stopped spinning and she regained the ability to put a   
  
string of conscious thoughts together. Not yet realizing   
  
what happened, Usagi opened her eyes and lifted her head   
  
just in time to see ChibiUsa consumed with fear hurtling   
  
herself towards her. Maternal instincts controlling her   
  
actions, Usagi rolled her body and lifted herself up   
  
slightly so that she could reach out and pull the   
  
trembling child to her chest. "Shush my muzume, I'm okay.   
  
Guess being light headed doesn't match too well with   
  
being a scatterbrain and klutz." Usagi said, the last   
  
part trying to get a laugh out of ChibiUsa.  
  
A tear streaked ChibiUsa looked up at Usagi, not quite   
  
believing the older girl's statement. However, Usagi's   
  
joke did have the intended effect of stopping ChibiUsa's   
  
tears when the young girl gave a solitary giggle. Usagi   
  
smiled back at ChibiUsa before pulling the young girl   
  
back into the embrace, an embrace that they remained in   
  
for a while. When they finally did break apart so that   
  
they were looking at each other's faces again, ChibiUsa's   
  
eyes widened in alarm.   
  
"Usagi your moon mark is visible!" ChibiUsa exclaimed.  
  
"Nani-ka." replied the older girl, as she reached up to   
  
her forehead as if she could feel the mark. "I wonder why   
  
it is visible, it should be hidden."  
  
ChibiUsa shrugged her shoulders not sure of the answer   
  
either. Then noticing something else, she said, "Usagi,   
  
it's dim. It looks a lot like you do."  
  
Usagi did not quite know what to make of that, though   
  
filed it away for asking Luna about after the trip. She   
  
tried a couple of times to hide the crescent moon mark,   
  
but each time ChibiUsa just shook her head. Usagi also   
  
tried to pull in her wings a second time, but this time   
  
she didn't even succeed for a moment, though she at least   
  
remained conscious.  
  
"My cold it must be affecting my powers." Usagi   
  
theorized. As she spoke that thought out loud, Usagi   
  
realized that in fact she wasn't really that surprised   
  
about this unexpected effect, part of her having   
  
subconsciously already expected it. ChibiUsa also   
  
appeared to buy Usagi's explanation and finally   
  
completely calmed down.  
  
"Of course with us being at Auntie Misaki's this proves a   
  
problem." Usagi said  
  
"Of course it does odango-atama." ChibiUsa said in a   
  
harsh voice.  
  
Usagi recognized that ChibiUsa was only voicing her   
  
frustrations and decided to let that comment slide.   
  
"ChibiUsa-chan, I have a makeup kit in my bag could you   
  
bring it here. I think I might be able to hide the   
  
crescent moon with it."  
  
"Hai." replied ChibiUsa as she got up and walked over to   
  
where Usagi's suitcase lay on the ground. Opening the   
  
bag, she hunted around in it for a few minutes before   
  
finding the requested item. Taking it out, she asked,   
  
"Bring enough stuff?" as she walked back. Usagi just   
  
replied to that comment by sticking out her tongue.   
  
Accepting the makeup kit with a quiet word of thanks,   
  
Usagi went about attempting to disguise some of her non-  
  
Tehran heritage. She hadn't tried to do this before,   
  
instead being able to rely on her glamour magic and as   
  
she went about hiding the mark, she became very   
  
appreciative of her glamour magic. The Moon mark had an   
  
intrinsic glow that made it hard to obscure, though   
  
thankfully with it already being quite dim from her   
  
illness it was not too difficult. Many minutes later she   
  
was finally satisfied with her disguise. As a final touch   
  
to help hide it from prying eyes, she decided to leave   
  
her hair down to partially obscure it that way as well.  
  
With that done, there was now only the minor issue of her   
  
very obvious wings. For a moment, she contemplated just   
  
going back to bed and remaining in bed all weekend long.   
  
However, she really wanted those blueberry pancakes. Of   
  
course, she could just have ChibiUsa get them for her.   
  
But she was going to have to be seen out of the bed at   
  
some point by Auntie Misako, if not now, when they left   
  
Sunday evening. And she might as well figure out what to   
  
do about this problem. Plus, most importantly, there was   
  
no telling how many of those delicious pancakes ChibiUsa   
  
would pilfer while bringing the plate in.  
  
Not sure of how she was going to hide her wings, Usagi   
  
went over to her bag and began to rummage through it,   
  
looking for anything that might potentially be useful.   
  
Five minutes later, as she reached the bottom of her bag,   
  
she found something – a slightly oversized robe. When she   
  
had been packing her bag, she had not known why she had   
  
felt the need to pack it, but now she was very glad that   
  
she had. Taking it out she carefully folder her wings   
  
before putting it on. Turning around in front of   
  
ChibiUsa, the younger child gave her approval of the   
  
disguise.   
  
Now ready to be seen by her aunt, Usagi said, "Ok I think   
  
I am ready to try this again." and reached out a hand to   
  
take ChibiUsa's.  
  
"Hai" ChibiUsa replied as the two of them left the room,   
  
with ChibiUsa walking very close to her mother.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Oh you poor thing!" Misaki exclaimed as she saw Usagi   
  
enter the dining room. Quickly getting up from the table,   
  
she walked over and pulled Usagi into hug. Even when she   
  
was perfectly healthy, Misaki's strangulation hugs were   
  
just a hair breath from tortuous pain. But now having her   
  
wings out and on top of that her wing injury, that hug   
  
caused Usagi to grimace in intense pain. However, even as   
  
that grimace began to cross her face, Usagi hid it away   
  
with a smile, making sure that her aunt would not feel   
  
any guilt over the pain that she was inadvertently   
  
causing her niece.  
  
While Usagi was able to hide her pain from her aunt, the   
  
same was not the case with ChibiUsa. The link the two of   
  
them shared worked both ways and so ChibiUsa was able to   
  
feel a shadow of her mother's pain. Knowing how much   
  
Auntie Misaki's hug was hurting her mother, ChibiUsa   
  
looked up worriedly. She wanted to do something, anything   
  
to force Misaki to release Usagi, however one look into   
  
Usagi's eyes cut those thoughts short. Instead, ChibiUsa   
  
was left to only hold her worry in as the hug continued.   
  
But before long, the hug was over and Misaki was guiding   
  
Usagi to a spot by the table.  
  
"Now you just sit right there and ChibiUsa and I will get   
  
your breakfast for you. Before you know it, I'll have you   
  
back to your normal self. And if this breakfast is not   
  
enough there is always my chicken soup for lunch."  
  
"Arigatoo" Usagi replied already feeling some of her   
  
strength returning as she thought about her aunt's   
  
cooking. While Makoto was a very accomplished cook,   
  
Misaki was at a completely different level. Her meals   
  
were simple, yet the love she managed to incorporate in   
  
them, made them better than even the fanciest meals. And   
  
as a result a simple bowl of her chicken soup could heal   
  
the nastiest colds.  
  
Before Usagi could daydream too much about her aunt's   
  
cooking, ChibiUsa returned with a bowl of Miso soup for   
  
Usagi to start off with. She also brought back a small   
  
bowl for herself. Picking up the spoon, Usagi began to   
  
sip the soup, enjoying it flavors. Looking over to   
  
ChibiUsa, she gave the girl a smile letting her know that   
  
she'll be okay.  
  
Finishing the bowl of soup, Usagi placed her spoon down   
  
in the bowl and moved it off to the side. And she was   
  
just in time, as Misaki chose that moment to come out of   
  
the kitchen with a heaping plate of pancakes.  
  
  
  
"Hope that this is enough for you. Though after seeing   
  
how many of these ChibiUsa was able to pack away, I am   
  
not sure if I have enough pancake mix in the house for   
  
your appetite."  
  
"Auntie-Misako!" both Usagi and ChibiUsa exclaimed in   
  
response to her teasing of their appetites. ChibiUsa had   
  
initially been gloating while Misaki was saying her   
  
taunt, but then realized that she was being taunted in   
  
the process of the taunt at her older "cousin."  
  
"I take it the food inhaler is awake." Shingo said as he   
  
walked bleary eyed into the dining room. Usagi's only   
  
response to which was to stick out her tongue and pull   
  
down an eyelid. ChibiUsa just smirked.  
  
"Now that is not a nice thing to say Shingo-chan. Even if   
  
you older sister can eat an army's worth of rations."   
  
Misaki said, getting another sour look from her niece.   
  
"Just remember she has to be doing something with all   
  
that food she eats. And since she has kept her slim body,   
  
she must be using that to gain strength. If you are not   
  
careful she might be able to beat you up even when you   
  
grow older."  
  
Shingo just grumbled in response to that, as he lost her   
  
support for his taunting. She doesn't realize how truly   
  
accurate that prediction is. he thought to himself.   
  
Even Ami will always be able to beat me up like it was   
  
nothing. Though as he thought about Ami, he internally   
  
blushed, thinking about how cute she was. Of course just   
  
like Sailor Moon, Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune,   
  
Sailor Mercury was also off limits. That didn't really   
  
leave much in the way of the Sailor Senshi for a young   
  
boy to have crushes on. Sailor Pluto was just a bit too   
  
intimidating, so that only left Venus and Jupiter. Though   
  
Venus was the original, Sailor V, and she was the goddess   
  
of love, she just did not stack up quite so well with her   
  
sister in coolness (for the rescue) and Sailor Mercury   
  
for cuteness. As for Sailor Jupiter, she was just a bit   
  
on the tall side.  
  
"Earth to Shingo." Usagi said as she waved a hand in   
  
front of her brother's face. While he had knelt down at   
  
the table, he was just staring blankly ahead lost in her   
  
internal rating of who was the cutest Senshi.   
  
Blushing, Shingo snapped out of his thoughts and mumbled   
  
an excuse that nobody could make out. Thankfully, his   
  
sister was not given the opportunity to ask any questions   
  
as Misaki choose that time to come out with his own stack   
  
of pancakes. Watching Shingo take a bite of his   
  
breakfast, Usagi was reminded of her own food and dug   
  
back in.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"What is it that you wished to speak with me about, oh   
  
Wiseman?" Rubeus humbly asked as his reality became that   
  
of the Death Phantom's prison.  
  
"The candidate to replace Kaolinite, Eudial is no good."   
  
The Wiseman responded.  
  
"Why, if I might ask?" Rubeus questioned, as he had been   
  
sure that of the remaining potential warriors, Eudial was   
  
the best to take up the task of searching out energy and   
  
these supposed Talismans.  
  
"I question her loyalty." was the Wiseman's only   
  
response.  
  
"Her loyalty? Then should I have her killed." Rubeus   
  
eagerly asked.  
  
"No, right now she is fully devoted to the professor.   
  
However, that is a result of the previous demon that had   
  
attempted to use the professor and his daughter to invade   
  
the Earth. I don't know how giving her more power will   
  
effect that spell, it could very well allow her to break   
  
free. She is entirely devoted to Hotaru and if her mind   
  
is given the power to seek other solutions it will." The   
  
Wiseman explained, having recently probed Eudial's mind.  
  
"Can't you replace that spell with a better one?" Rubeus   
  
asked, in particular referring to how the Wiseman was   
  
planning on turning the Rabbit.  
  
"I could, but she is not worth it. Find me another   
  
candidate." The Wiseman commanded and then the connection   
  
was broken and Rubeus found himself back in the real   
  
world. Standing up he crushed the crystal he was holding,   
  
frustrated with this complication. Not quite satisfied he   
  
blasted the body from which he had extracted this life   
  
force before teleporting out of the warehouse.  
  
Ideally, he would have liked to have gifted all of the   
  
professor's lab assistants with the power of Nemesis and   
  
let them fight to be the best. However, the Wiseman could   
  
not expend that much energy and so he was left choosing.   
  
He guessed that the next best option was Mimete, however   
  
something about her just did not strike him as right. She   
  
was competitive, yet very lax in actually doing the work.   
  
Maybe one of the other witches would work. Though he did   
  
not want to send out his best warriors right away, he   
  
wanted to save them for the final real battle against   
  
Serenity.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Finishing up with her breakfast, Usagi got up and   
  
returned to her room while Shingo and ChibiUsa headed   
  
outside to play. Sitting down on her bed, Usagi tried to   
  
assess how she was feeling. She definitely felt quite a   
  
bit better having had some breakfast. Though even while   
  
the boost of energy from breakfast was making her want to   
  
be up and about, she could still feel that she was still   
  
sick.  
  
Finally deciding on what she wanted to do, Usagi went to   
  
her bag and pulled out some of Rei's manga. With those in   
  
hand she then proceeded to head outside. Walking out on   
  
the porch, she went over to the swinging bench that   
  
Misaki had and after adjusting the pillows plopped   
  
herself down on it and proceeded to begin reading her   
  
friend's manga.   
  
Very quickly Usagi became lost in her reading and the few   
  
remaining hours of the morning passed her by bringing   
  
lunch. Eating lunch wit the rest of the family, she,   
  
Shingo and ChibiUsa learned that their parents and Auntie   
  
Misaki were going to go into the town for a bit after   
  
lunch.  
  
Finished with her lunch, Usagi turned to ChibiUsa and   
  
asked her, "ChibiUsa-chan would you like to go swimming?"  
  
"Hai!" the young girl enthusiastically replied.  
  
"Then why don't you go get yourself changed and we can   
  
head on down." ChibiUsa's reply to that statement was to   
  
tear off toward the room that the two of them were   
  
sharing and to quickly change.   
  
"You sure you feel up to walking down to the pond?"   
  
Misaki asked her niece.  
  
"Hai, I am feeling a lot better after having your chicken   
  
soup to eat." Usagi replied. In some ways the pick up in   
  
energy that she was feeling was not that much different   
  
from the energy boost she felt when here friends would   
  
band together and lend her their energies.   
  
"Even still Usagi, I would like Shingo to go down to the   
  
pond with you as well." Ikuko said not entirely happy   
  
with how Usagi looked.  
  
Shingo who was finishing the last bit of his lunch looked   
  
up in surprise, having heard his name called. "Huh?" he   
  
said not having been paying attention to the   
  
conversation.  
  
"Shingo, I would like you to go to the pond with Usagi   
  
and ChibiUsa-chan, so that you can keep an eye on your   
  
sister. She may be saying that she is feeling all better,   
  
but I know better."  
  
Shingo nodded his understanding as he got from the table   
  
to go get himself changed, all the while mumbling under   
  
his breath about having to baby sit his baka sister.   
  
Though under that mumbling was a sincere happiness to be   
  
asked to do this, there was just something about being   
  
asked to watch over the one called Sailor Moon while she   
  
was ill that he found pride in, now for at least a short   
  
period of time he could be the strong one. Of course   
  
under no circumstances would he let anyone and especially   
  
not his sister know his real thoughts on the matter, or   
  
at least no one other than Luna.  
  
"Hai, Shingo can come," Usagi said agreeing to her   
  
mother's requirement and then took her leave to get   
  
changed into a bathing suit.  
  
* * * * *  
  
An hour later found the trio down by the pond. As soon as   
  
they arrived, ChibiUsa and Shingo dropped what they were   
  
carrying, undressed down to their swimsuits and made a   
  
beeline for the water. Usagi would have been right up   
  
there with them if it were not for her illness. As it   
  
was, she was feeling a bit winded from the walk down to   
  
the watering hole. They had not walked that far, only   
  
about ten minutes. But thankfully that was all the   
  
distance they had to walk, much further and she would   
  
have had to take a breather. And having Shingo accompany   
  
them down was good fortune as he ended up being their   
  
pack mule.  
  
So while ChibiUsa and Shingo played in the pond, Usagi   
  
decided to sit down by where those two had discarded   
  
their clothes and Shingo had left the supplies he had   
  
been carrying. Getting a blanket out of the bag, she laid   
  
it out on the ground before sitting down on it lying down   
  
on it. Closing her eyes she just enjoyed the peacefulness   
  
of the countryside while she listened to the sounds of   
  
Shingo and ChibiUsa playing. Usagi rested like that for a   
  
while before finally sitting back up. While she had been   
  
lying down, ChibiUsa and Shingo had started up a game of   
  
Marco Polo. Currently Shingo was it and appeared to be   
  
having a hard time catching ChibiUsa, for the pink haired   
  
girl kept making quick dives down to the bottom of the   
  
pond to escape from Shingo when he got too close.   
  
ChibiUsa's strategy held up for quite a few minutes, but   
  
eventually on one dive Shingo had managed to get close   
  
enough to her to get a general gist of which direction   
  
she was heading in and took off in that direction. The   
  
two of them swam at a similar rate and when ChibiUsa   
  
finally surfaced, she popped up right under in front of   
  
Shingo. Coming to the surface she stopped swimming so   
  
that she could look around and find Shingo, however,   
  
Shingo, swimming with his eyes closed, did not stop and   
  
as a result rammed ChibiUsa. Watching from the shore,   
  
Usagi couldn't help but breaking into a spat of giggles   
  
at what she saw.  
  
Hearing Usagi's hyena laughs ChibiUsa and Shingo turned   
  
and looked her direction. Glancing at each other, a   
  
silently communicated plan was developed as evidenced by   
  
the evil smile that crossed both of their faces. Turning   
  
back to their quarry, they both suddenly dived down to   
  
the bottom of the pound and swam for the shore. They swam   
  
not straight at Usagi, but to points a few meters to   
  
either side of Usagi. Surfacing in the shallow water, the   
  
two of them quickly jogged out of the water and then made   
  
a turn to runs towards Usagi. Usagi for her part had   
  
stopped laughing and had just realized that ChibiUsa and   
  
Shingo were no longer in the water. But before she could   
  
wonder where they could have gotten off to, she found   
  
them at her sides grabbing a hold of her arms. The two   
  
younger children then quickly pulled the protesting   
  
teenager to her feet and then with some more effort out   
  
into the water.  
  
With the two pulling Usagi, she stumbled through her   
  
initial steps into the pond and shivered at the coolness   
  
of the water. Though whether or not the water was too   
  
cold for her tastes was never an option as just as she   
  
was straightening herself back up from being pulled out   
  
to the water, Shingo lunged for her legs and took her   
  
under. Surfacing, a drenched Usagi gave her brother a   
  
mock glare and contemplated how she was going to get her   
  
revenge, though that thought process was cut short when   
  
she was dunked a second time, this time by ChibiUsa. Not   
  
about to let her daughter have it easy, she reached up a   
  
hand as she went down and grabbed a hold of the little   
  
girl, pulling her down as well.  
  
Shingo smirked at his sister's second dunking and an   
  
additional one for her ability to grab ChibiUsa on the   
  
way down. However, being an expert prankster, he knew   
  
that he was the next target and so took the opportunity   
  
to swim away. When Usagi and ChibiUsa came up a few   
  
moments later, he was safely on the other side of the   
  
pond. Giving her brother a glare, Usagi decided to let   
  
her revenge wait for later. Letting her body fall   
  
backwards, Usagi resumed her lounging. Seeing that she   
  
had gotten all the fun that she was going to get out of   
  
her mother for now, ChibiUsa swam over to the other side   
  
of the pond so that she and Shingo could continue their   
  
game.  
  
Some time later, Usagi noticed that the sun had fallen a   
  
fair bit of the way through the sky. Realizing that meant   
  
that her parents and aunt would be getting back soon,   
  
Usagi knew it was time to get out of the water. The last   
  
thing she wanted was for her aunt to come down here to   
  
join them at the pond and see her wings. If only she   
  
wasn't sick she could stay in the water a while longer,   
  
it was just so nice out here. But as it was, she was   
  
pushing her luck. Getting out of the water she walked   
  
over to where their stuff lay and picked up a towel and   
  
began to dry herself off. Examining her wings for a   
  
moment, she was glad to see that they seemed to have had   
  
no problem with getting wet, this was the first time she   
  
had gotten them wet. Pulling on a shirt and a pair of   
  
shorts, Usagi called out to the other two, "ChibiUsa,   
  
Shingo it is time to get out."  
  
"Another five minutes." Shingo called back  
  
"Please, okaa-san" ChibiUsa added in her most adorable   
  
puppy dogface.  
  
Any other day Usagi would have fallen for their pleading   
  
but not today. "If I have to get out of the water, then   
  
you have to too. Now lets go you little spore." Usagi   
  
replied  
  
ChibiUsa responded by pulling down an eyelid and sticking   
  
out her tongue. However, she and Shingo did do as   
  
directed and climbed out of the pond.  
  
Before long, Shingo was loaded back up with all of their   
  
stuff, and Usagi was again wrapped up in her robe. All   
  
set, they began the trek back up to the house, Usagi   
  
wishing that Makoto was there to carry her back. Even   
  
though she had spent the past hour just lounging around   
  
in the water, being out in the sun had tired her out and   
  
she was all set to drop back off to sleep.  
  
"So ChibiUsa how is Hotaru doing?" Usagi asked, referring   
  
to the incident the previous week.  
  
"She seems to be all better, she was back in school on   
  
Wednesday. And she said that her father only kept her out   
  
of school on Monday and Tuesday because he was worried   
  
about her. She said, she was all dressed and walking out   
  
the door when her father told her that he had called the   
  
school and told them that she wasn't going to be coming   
  
in."  
  
Usagi let out a muffled laugh at that last bit and   
  
remembered vaguely of ChibiUsa telling her Wednesday   
  
evening that Hotaru had returned to school that day.   
  
"Nothing happened to her as a result of that attack?"  
  
"She was badly bruised and cut up, but nothing more than   
  
that. She didn't remember anything more about what   
  
happened than I did. Both of us passed out after that   
  
witch blasted us. I guess that must have been when Pu   
  
arrived."  
  
"Which reminds me, I need to find out from Diana what she   
  
knows about that gentleman who brought you and Hotaru   
  
back to Hotaru's house. You don't happen to know anything   
  
about him do you?"  
  
"Gomen, all I know is that his name is Keffer. I was too   
  
worried about Hotaru at the time and he of course was   
  
gone before I woke up in the morning." ChibiUsa replied.  
  
"Don't worry about it, you had your mind full." Usagi   
  
said as she pulled her daughter in close against her as   
  
they walked.  
  
Hearing the snapping of some twigs, Shingo asked, "What's   
  
that?"  
  
"Huh?" replied Usagi and ChibiUsa as they turned to look   
  
at Shingo.  
  
"Thought I heard something in the woods." explained   
  
Shingo.  
  
Looking in the direction that Shingo was indicating,   
  
Usagi did not see anything and so said, "You probably   
  
just heard a squirrel."  
  
Though not exactly satisfied with Usagi's explanation,   
  
Shingo accepted it and so the trio continued walking.   
  
Though they had not walked that far when all three of   
  
them heard a large beast grunting. Hearing that sound,   
  
they stopped and turned in the direction of the noise,   
  
none of them wanting to see the creature that made that   
  
noise. This time the creature was plainly visible, having   
  
come out of the woods and onto the path, and none of them   
  
liked what they saw, for what stood in front of them was   
  
a vaguely minotaur like demon with a large wooden club.  
  
"Nani-ka, what is that doing here?" Usagi asked as along   
  
with ChibiUsa and Shingo she began to slowly back away   
  
from the creature. She did not know how the enemy had   
  
found them here, but she was going to make sure that this   
  
creature did not harm her brother or daughter. But even   
  
as she let her body slip into a fighting stance, Usagi   
  
knew that she could not fight this creature, she did not   
  
have the strength or energy in her current condition. She   
  
also knew that there was no way she was going to get   
  
ChibiUsa and Shingo to leave her here, and so that left   
  
only one option. Standing back up, she quickly pivoted   
  
around and grabbed the hands of ChibiUsa and Shingo and   
  
yelled "RUN!"  
  
As soon as Shingo and ChibiUsa began running, Usagi let   
  
go of their hands, to let them run faster. And given that   
  
unlike her they were healthy, the two of them quickly   
  
began outpacing her. While Usagi was running at a much   
  
slower pace, the creature was not a fast runner either   
  
and so Usagi was able to maintain her lead. Unfortunately   
  
for Usagi, running was not a recommended activity given   
  
her current condition, and consequently with a hundred   
  
meters she began to tire. From her training as Sailor   
  
Moon, she was able to force her body to keep up the pace,   
  
but what she could not maintain were her reflexes. And so   
  
she began to find it hard to dodge tree branches and   
  
other obstacles.  
  
Hearing a yelp of shock from Usagi, ChibiUsa and Shingo   
  
stopped running and turned. To their horror, they found   
  
Usagi splayed out face down on the ground, having tripped   
  
over a rock with the demon closing quickly. The two of   
  
them let out a sigh of relief as Usagi began to push   
  
herself up off the ground, but that sigh quickly became   
  
even more horror when Usagi collapsed right back down   
  
this time slipping into unconsciousness from lack of   
  
energy.  
  
While Usagi's collapse back to the ground took Shingo by   
  
surprise, the same was not true for ChibiUsa. From their   
  
link she could feel her mother's life-force waver and   
  
therefore knew that something was wrong. When that fear   
  
was confirmed, ChibiUsa sprung into motion as she took a   
  
hold of her transformation broach and became Sailor   
  
ChibiMoon and began running towards her mother.   
  
ChibiUsa's transformation snapped Shingo into action and   
  
he also went to the aid of his big sister.  
  
Realizing that Shingo was joining her, ChibiMoon said,   
  
"That thing is an Oni, a naturally occurring demon. They   
  
are not very powerful, though they are not very pleasant   
  
either." and quite ugly as well.  
  
By the time the two of them got close to Usagi, the   
  
creature had already reached where the silver haired girl   
  
lay and was in the process of stooping down to pickup its   
  
dinner. Moving quickly to draw its attention away from   
  
her mother, ChibiMoon summoned her moon wand and used her   
  
Pink Sugar Heart Attack.  
  
ChibiMoon's attempt to distract the demon's attention   
  
away from Usagi was successful, as the young girl quickly   
  
had to dive out of the way of a horn first charge by the   
  
demon. A motion that she had to quickly follow with   
  
another dodge to avoid being impaled by the spiked club   
  
that the demon carried, the demon was much more nimble   
  
than appearances would give it credit for.   
  
Not about to let his cousin have all the fun, Shingo had   
  
taken a few moments to grab a large branch that was lying   
  
just inside of the woods. Using it as a club he charged   
  
the demon, to his advantage Onis are fairly simple minded   
  
creatures generally only able to focus on one thing at a   
  
time. Given that the creature was focused on turning   
  
ChibiMoon into a Sailor Pancake, it was caught unaware   
  
when Shingo smashed his club into its back.   
  
The creature roared out in pain and reared back away from   
  
ChibiMoon to regard this new threat. Snorting, it swung   
  
its club widely at Shingo. Thankfully it missed, as if it   
  
hadn't Shingo would not have survived. Seeing Shingo   
  
almost clobbered, ChibiMoon ran to Shingo's side, which   
  
was unfortunately not a good idea for the beast upon   
  
reaching the end of its swing, just swung the club right   
  
back in the other direction equally as fast. With a large   
  
gasp as the air was forced out of her lungs, ChibiMoon   
  
was flung back into the woods to hit a large oak tree.   
  
From where he knelt on the ground Shingo saw ChibiMoon   
  
get clobbered in her stomach and then heard the sickening   
  
sound as her head smashed into the tree.   
  
Rage now fueling his actions, Shingo cried out, "You   
  
leave my cousin alone!" as he returned to his feet and   
  
swung his club at the demon again. This time the hit   
  
caused the creature to noticeable stagger, disrupting its   
  
on club swing thereby giving Shingo the time he needed to   
  
hit the creature a second time and then a third and   
  
fourth. By the fifth swing the creature was being forced   
  
down to its knees, but on his sixth swing Shingo's luck   
  
ran out when with a snap his own club broke in two. Panic   
  
crossed Shingo's face, and then he was sent flying when   
  
the demon backhanded him. With the distractions taken   
  
care of, the Oni turned its attention back to its dinner.   
  
Feeling a bit dazed, ChibiMoon ignored her pain and got   
  
back to her feet. Walking back out of the woods she tried   
  
to think of how she was going to defeat this demon.   
  
Thinking back to her combat lessons from Jupiter-sensei   
  
and demon hierarchy lessons from Mars-sensei, she knew   
  
that Onis were not that difficult to take out. They were   
  
about as dangerous as a bear, which meant that they were   
  
nothing for regular humans to go after, but would be   
  
nothing for a Sailor Senshi, even one in training.   
  
However, even if she intellectually knew that she could   
  
beat this creature that was quite different from actually   
  
having to face one.   
  
What would Sailor Moon do in a situation like this?   
  
ChibiUsa asked herself. Well first she would cry in   
  
fright and then run around in circles dodging its attacks   
  
until Tuxedo-kamen showed up. Then she would moon dust it   
  
with her… Wait, that's it. ChibiUsa thought as she   
  
suddenly realized the solution to her problems. There was   
  
one weapon that she and Sailor Moon did share in common,   
  
or at least she hoped that they shared. She had never   
  
actually used it before, but if she was supposed to be   
  
Sailor Moon, then she would logically have that ability   
  
as well.  
  
Reaching up, ChibiMoon removed her tiara. Looking at it   
  
she wondered, Ok, now how do I go about making this   
  
work. It can't be took complicated, as Usagi was able to   
  
figure out how to do it on her own. As she stared at the   
  
tiara, she felt it begin to get warm as her energy flowed   
  
into it and she found herself knowing the necessary   
  
words. "Hey ugly, I am not finished with you." She called   
  
out to the Oni.  
  
The creature stopped and turned to regard ChibiMoon with   
  
some annoyance figuring that she was going to try and   
  
steel its dinner yet again. Seeing how banged up this   
  
dinner thief was, the Oni decided that ChibiMoon was not   
  
much of a threat and with a dismissive snort it turned   
  
back to its meal. That was a mistake.  
  
"Moon Tiara Action." called out Sailor ChibiMoon as she   
  
turned her tiara into a discus and tossed it at the   
  
creature. With a clean swipe it cut the demon in half,   
  
halves that proceeded to disintegrate into moon dust.  
  
Seeing the demon defeated, ChibiMoon released a sigh of   
  
relief while falling to her knees grateful that she had   
  
been able to defeat the creature. Getting back to her   
  
feet she ran over to where Shingo lay.  
  
Sensing somebody nearby, Shingo turned his head. Finding   
  
ChibiUsa he gave her a smile and said, "You did it."  
  
"We did it." ChibiUsa corrected before asking, "Are you   
  
okay?"  
  
Not about to let his masculinity be called into question,   
  
Shingo lied and said, "I'm fine, nothing but some minor   
  
scratches. Why don't we see to Usagi."  
  
"Hai." ChibiUsa agreed and quickly got up and ran over to   
  
where her mother lay. Shingo followed much more slowly   
  
and in a fair bit of pain.  
  
"Usagi! Usagi wakeup!" ChibiUsa cried as she knelt beside   
  
her mother.   
  
Hearing, ChibiUsa's cries, Shingo quickly jogged the rest   
  
of the distance to where his sister lay. Kneeling down,   
  
he placed a hand on Usagi's back to see if he feel the   
  
rise and fall of her chest and was relieved to find her   
  
still breathing. "ChibiUsa-chan help me roll Usagi onto   
  
to her back." he said, as he tried to remember the little   
  
bit of school first aid training. Though about the only   
  
thing he remembered from those lessons was that she   
  
should be on her back and something about raising the   
  
feet. Needing something to use to raise his sister's feet   
  
he asked, "ChibiUsa can you get me the bag?"  
  
Not sure what Shingo was getting at, ChibiUsa however did   
  
do as asked, eager to do anything that would make Usagi   
  
wake up. When she got back with the bag Shingo took it   
  
and placed it under his Usagi's feet. However, Usagi   
  
still remained unconscious. With ChibiUsa getting more   
  
worried by the minute, and himself not doing much better,   
  
Shingo tried to think of something else to do to wake his   
  
sister up. "Usagi, you're late for school." He yelled   
  
into her ear, however that did not garner any response.   
  
Then trying another phrase, he said, "Usagi, Mamoru-kun   
  
is here."  
  
While that attempt did not wake Usagi, it did give   
  
ChibiUsa an idea. While unlike during her previous trip   
  
she and Usagi did not fight over Mamoru, ChibiUsa   
  
wondered if that might still work and decided to give it   
  
a try. Leaning in close to Usagi's ear she softly   
  
whispered, "Usagi, Mamo-chan is here and he is going to   
  
take me out on a date not you."  
  
Reacting instantly, Usagi yelled, "Why you little spore,   
  
Mamo-chan is my boyfriend not yours!" as she bolted up   
  
right. The sudden act of sitting up caused Usagi to get a   
  
little light headed and she complained, "Ooh, my head."   
  
as she placed a hand up against her head. Sitting there   
  
like that for a few minutes, she began to remember what   
  
had happened. Forgetting what ChibiUsa had said to wake   
  
her, she instead just asked, "Where is the demon?"  
  
"ChibiUsa defeated it." Shingo proudly said.  
  
Surprised by that, but not showing it too much, Usagi   
  
proudly looked at ChibiUsa and asked, "All by yourself?"  
  
"Well not exactly, Shingo helped quite a bit." ChibiUsa   
  
admitted, "And it was only an Oni."  
  
Usagi's response was to just pull ChibiUsa into a tight   
  
hug while giving Shingo a bright smile as well. "Well   
  
then, it is time for us to continue on back; mom, dad and   
  
auntie Misako are probably starting to wander what   
  
happened to us." Releasing ChibiUsa, Usagi prepared to   
  
stand up, but then realized that she did not have the   
  
strength to get back to her feet. With an embarrassed   
  
look and a hand behind her head, Usagi turned back to the   
  
other two and admitted, "I don't think I have the   
  
strength to get up."  
  
ChibiUsa's reaction to that statement was to get very   
  
worried. Seeing that Shingo said, "ChibiUsa stay here   
  
with Usagi and watch her, I will go get mom and dad." As   
  
soon as ChibiUsa nodded her head in agreement, Shingo   
  
took off in a dead run.   
  
Pounding his feet as fast as he could, it was not long   
  
before he arrived at the house. Ripping the door open, he   
  
found three very surprised adults. "Usagi… Usagi, she   
  
fainted on the trail." Shingo managed to get out between   
  
gasps of air.  
  
"Something's wrong with my baby?" Ikuko asked, fright in   
  
her voice and Shingo nodded.  
  
Though even before Shingo's confirmation the there adults   
  
were already heading to the door to put on their shoes.   
  
Once they had their shoes on they all headed down the   
  
trail to see to Usagi, however Shingo remained behind.   
  
Now alone in the house, Shingo lumbered off to the   
  
bathroom to clean his wounds. Any other time, he would   
  
have wanted his mom to take care of his injuries. But   
  
with a momentarily mature insight, he knew that it would   
  
be best to let his mom focus all of her energy on Usagi   
  
and not worry her that he had been hurt as well or even   
  
more so that there had been a demon attack.   
  
* * * * *  
  
An hour later found Ikuko sitting on the floor beside   
  
Usagi. The three of them had found Usagi easily enough   
  
and carried her back to the house and immediately to bed.   
  
She had feared the worst as she ran down the path to her   
  
fallen daughter, but to her relief she found Usagi   
  
conscious, just too weak to stand up. Though to her   
  
dismay she found that Usagi was running a fever, which   
  
worried her.   
  
Misaki and Kenji had already gotten up and left Usagi to   
  
rest a few minutes earlier and Ikuko knew that she should   
  
do the same. There was nothing more she could do for her   
  
daughter and Usagi did need her rest. All the same there   
  
was just this nagging feeling in her gut that there was   
  
more to this illness. However, she was no doctor, but   
  
that gave her an idea.  
  
Getting up, Ikuko left the room and silently made her way   
  
to the room that she and Kenji were staying in. Entering   
  
the room, she closed the door and leaving the lights off   
  
walked over to the nightstand. Picking up her purse she   
  
quickly rummaged through it and pulled out a piece of   
  
paper with the phone number that she needed.  
  
Dialing the number, it was not long before she heard   
  
"Moshi Moshi."  
  
Hearing Mizuno-san's voice on the other end of the phone,   
  
Ikuko realized that while Mizuno-san had been stopping by   
  
every few days this past week to check on Usagi, she did   
  
not really know this woman. Feeling a bit guilty for   
  
using Mizuno-san's services for free and also feeling   
  
some responsibility for the fact that Mizuno's daughter   
  
was fighting under the leadership of her own daughter,   
  
Ikuko resolved to make an effort to get to know this   
  
woman after Usagi was healthy again. And as she thought   
  
about Ami fighting along side Usagi, Ikuko also realized   
  
that she should get to know the other parents as well.   
  
These thoughts all crossed Ikuko's mind during the time   
  
it took Rikou to answer the phone and they all fled from   
  
her mind as the gates of worry broke and Ikuko said,   
  
"Mizuno-san, this is Tsukino-san there is something wrong   
  
with Usagi."  
  
From her years as being a doctor, Rikou instantly   
  
recognized the fear that was in Ikuko's voice. Instantly   
  
transitioning to her professional mode, Rikou walked over   
  
to the kitchen counter and picked up a pen and paper   
  
while asking, "Ikuko-san what seems to be wrong with   
  
Usagi?"  
  
"I'm not exactly sure. If it were not for her wings I   
  
would have taken her to the county clinic, but I am not   
  
sure what to do."  
  
The mention of Usagi's wings caused a part of Rikou's   
  
mind to register that Usagi couldn't really be seen by   
  
her regular doctor any more. That instead she was going   
  
to need to become this girl's regular physician, but that   
  
was an issue to deal with later. Right now, she needed to   
  
calm a worried mother down and then do her best to   
  
diagnose Usagi's condition.  
  
"How is her pulse and breathing? Are they strong?" Rikou   
  
asked.  
  
"Hai they are." Ikuko absently replied.  
  
"Then you probably don't have anything to worry about.   
  
Remember that Usagi and the others have very strong   
  
constitutions. You have seen some of the damage left by   
  
the battles they have walked away from, I am sure that no   
  
illness could keep these girls down." Rikou said in an   
  
encouraging voice, figuring that Usagi was probably   
  
suffering from a nasty cold or a viral infection.  
  
"Hai." Ikuko half-heartedly agreed.  
  
"Now why don't you describe her current condition to me   
  
and we'll see if we can figure out what is wrong with   
  
your daughter."  
  
Over the next half hour Ikuko relayed what she knew of   
  
Usagi's condition and after walking back into Usagi's   
  
room with the phone, checked various things for Rikou.   
  
Rikou was a bit disturbed by the multiple fainting   
  
instances that Ikuko described, Ikuko had learned of   
  
Usagi's problems that morning from ChibiUsa, but she did   
  
not let Ikuko know her worries and anyways Rikou also   
  
knew that many viral infections could cause similar   
  
results.  
  
"Ikuko-san, I still don't think you have anything to   
  
worry about right now. From what you have described to   
  
me, I would have to say that she probably has a viral   
  
infection, though without a blood sample I can't be sure.   
  
I am sure you are familiar with mononucleosis, it has   
  
very similar symptoms to Usagi's and in particular it   
  
makes the patient very drained. If she is indeed coming   
  
down with a viral infection, then this afternoon's   
  
fainting spell in addition to the one this morning are   
  
completely understandable and expected.   
  
"My recommendation to you is make sure that she spends   
  
the rest of the weekend in bed getting plenty of rest and   
  
stays well fed. I am sure that you are going to be   
  
checking on her frequently, so don't hesitate to give me   
  
a call if her condition changes. About the only thing you   
  
can do for her is to make sure that she eats, as she will   
  
need to keep her energy levels up, which given her unique   
  
physiology is even more important."  
  
"Hai. Arigatoo Mizuno-san." Ikuko responded feeling   
  
confident again. She had suppressed a chuckle when   
  
Mizuno-san had mentioned the need to make sure that Usagi   
  
ate that was one thing she was not worried about.  
  
"Oh one other thing. Ami has told me how close Usagi and   
  
ChibiUsa are to each other. The last thing you need right   
  
now is for ChibiUsa to get sick. From my own experience   
  
with Usagi, I know that will be the worst thing in terms   
  
of getting Usagi better."  
  
"You're right." Ikuko agreed, knowing very well that no   
  
matter how sick Usagi was she would still insist on   
  
tending after a sick ChibiUsa. And that further more that   
  
it was going to take proactive actions on her and Kenji's   
  
part to keep ChibiUsa away from Usagi while the older   
  
girl got better.  
  
"I'll call you around eight tonight to check on how Usagi   
  
is doing." Rikou added.  
  
"Arigatoo again, Mizuno-san. Sorry to have bothered you   
  
for some viral infection." Ikuko said, now a bit ashamed   
  
of her apparent over reaction.  
  
"Not at all Ikuko-san, I am happy to help out. I owe your   
  
daughter a large debt for what she has done for my own   
  
daughter. And please remember that you can call be Rikou.   
  
Now I suggest you get some rest for yourself, you don't   
  
want to get sick."  
  
Hanging up the phone a few minutes later, Rikou walked   
  
back to the counter where she had left the piece of paper   
  
with Usagi's symptoms and thought of what to do next. Her   
  
professional mind said to just wait till 8 and then give   
  
Ikuko a return call, but another part of her knew that   
  
she had to go find her own daughter and tell her the bad   
  
news. She did not want to burden her daughter with what   
  
looked to be no more than a viral infection, but somehow   
  
she instinctively knew that Ami would not care how   
  
trivial the illness was.   
  
Rikou could plainly see in the eyes of the girls and the   
  
way they acted how protective they were of Usagi. From   
  
her talks with Ami, Rikou knew that Makoto was open with   
  
herself with regard to Usagi and that Rei was beginning   
  
to go that way as well. And while she knew her daughter   
  
did not yet realize it, she knew Ami loved Usagi very   
  
much and was just as protective of her as any of the   
  
others. And as such she knew keeping this information   
  
from her daughter, would be to wrong her in the worst way   
  
possible.  
  
With only one option for what needed to be done, Rikou   
  
picked up the slip of paper and folding it placed it in   
  
her pocket. Leaving the house, she decided to walk to the   
  
library, knowing that she needed the extra time to find a   
  
way to break the news to Ami that wouldn't have the blue   
  
haired Senshi making a mad dash for Usagi's aunt's place.  
  
* * * * *  
  
For Usagi, the rest of the weekend passed in a haze of   
  
short and long naps interspaced with food. She had been   
  
vaguely aware of her mom talking to Mizuno-san after she   
  
had been brought back to the house. It was hard after all   
  
to sleep while being poked and prodded. Around eight that   
  
evening when Ami's mom called back she had been sitting   
  
up eating a large bowl of chicken soup. And while her mom   
  
talked with Ami's mom on the phone, she had talked with   
  
her friend over their communicators. She was a bit   
  
annoyed that they had to spend the first part of the   
  
conversation talking about how she was feeling, but   
  
eventually she was able to divert Ami into just idle   
  
gossip. Unfortunately that did not last too long, as   
  
shortly after that the phone conversation her parents and   
  
aunt were having with Mizuno-san ended.  
  
Though given the large yawn that Usagi gave a few minutes   
  
after she signed off with Ami, it was probably a good   
  
thing that their conversation had ended when it did. And   
  
only a few minutes later found the silver haired girl   
  
snoring heavily. The adults continued to check on her   
  
throughout the evening.  
  
And as Ikuko and Rikou had feared, keeping ChibiUsa away   
  
from Usagi that night was quite difficult. During the   
  
afternoon and early evening it was not that hard, since   
  
ChibiUsa understood that Usagi needed her rest and being   
  
a young child she had lots of energy that needed burning   
  
off. So during the daytime, ChibiUsa was content playing   
  
outside with Shingo. But when it came bedtime, Ikuko   
  
found a pouting ChibiUsa when she told the younger girl   
  
that she would have to sleep with Shingo that night.   
  
Seeing the look on ChibiUsa's face as she went to   
  
bathroom to get ready for bed, Ikuko knew that ChibiUsa   
  
was not going to stay away from Usagi's room. Oh ChibiUsa   
  
would go to sleep in Shingo's room, however she knew that   
  
once she and the others had gone off to sleep that   
  
ChibiUsa would get back up and return to Usagi's room. It   
  
was Misaki who thankfully realized how to solve this   
  
little problem, and the solution Ikuko had to admit was   
  
quite simple and really straightforward. All Misaki had   
  
to do was have ChibiUsa think of what Usagi would do if   
  
the situation was reversed (take care of ChibiUsa no   
  
matter what) and then have the young child think of what   
  
that would mean if she got sick while Usagi was still   
  
sick. The look of instant understanding and guilt that   
  
came across ChibiUsa's face assured Ikuko that she did   
  
not have to worry about this anymore.  
  
Usagi slept to lunch the next morning, before Kenji woke   
  
her and brought her some food to eat. He was a bit   
  
disheartened to see that Usagi looked worse, but he knew   
  
from the phones conversation the previous night that   
  
Usagi was bound to get worse for a while. Once Usagi   
  
finished eating he helped his daughter up and over to the   
  
bathroom so that Usagi could get changed and ready to go.   
  
Usagi came out of the bathroom a few minutes later, still   
  
wrapped in her blanket, which was fitting given that she   
  
was likely to sleep the rest of the way home. Taking her   
  
out to the car, Kenji set her up in the passenger seat   
  
with a pillow before going back into the house to round   
  
up the others.  
  
Saying their goodbyes, the Tsukinos began their trip back   
  
to Tokyo a little after two that afternoon. After they   
  
had been driving for a few hours, Kenji noticed that his   
  
daughter was awake.  
  
  
  
"How are you feeling?" he asked.  
  
"Tired." Usagi replied, "Though a bit better."  
  
"That's good, though you should not get your hopes up.   
  
The boost of energy that you are feeling right now is   
  
just a result of having freshly woken up."  
  
Usagi nodded her acknowledgement before turning her gaze   
  
back to the road ahead and silently watching their drive   
  
back to the city. But as she sat there watching the road,   
  
she did not feel her energy drop, nor did she feel the   
  
need to go back to sleep. By the time, they got back to   
  
the house; she was feeling quite a bit better. Guess it   
  
was some nasty cold bug. Usagi thought to herself.  
  
Though as she got out of the car and walked into the   
  
house, she did have to admit to herself that being sick   
  
did provide once very nice benefit, she did not have to   
  
help with the unpacking of the car. Opening the door and   
  
walking inside, she found an additional downside to being   
  
sick. There sitting on the couch was Ami who appeared to   
  
be reading a astrophysics book while petting Luna who was   
  
napping on her lap and on the other side of the room was   
  
a frozen statue of Minako wearing what appeared to be   
  
nurse's uniform. Huh? she thought to herself And what   
  
is that charred smell that I am smelling?   
  
Looking up from her book, Ami saw that Usagi had   
  
returned. After placing the book down on the end table   
  
and waiting for Luna to hop off of her lap, she got up   
  
and walked over to Usagi. "You must be feeling better."   
  
Ami said as she shifted into her Mercury form before   
  
deploying her visor and taking out her computer.  
  
Not quite sure of what to make of the scene in front of   
  
her, Usagi's brain finally gave up and shut itself down.   
  
And with a sudden sag, the princess of the Moon Kingdom   
  
fell into the awaiting arms of Mercury.  
  
-End Chapter  
  
?Ooh, is this chapter late. Once again a short   
  
chapter goes long and adds a few more months to the   
  
writing process. Of course there were plenty of   
  
other distractions: refreshing my bridge playing   
  
skills, starting to learn a new language, trips to   
  
visit my girlfriend, and of course work (hey being   
  
over busy at work is quite a good thing, means you   
  
don't have to worry about RIFs), plus new shows on   
  
Toonami and Adult Swim.  
  
?For those who did not get the references in the   
  
previous chapter. Pluto's little trick with the   
  
Garnet Orb was Sight-Beyond-Sight from Thunder Cats   
  
and Saturn's little banishment trick is based on   
  
what the Dark Yugi does to some of his opponents in   
  
the Manga (currently running in Shonen Jump).  
  
?And this chapter's bad guy of the day, the Oni, is   
  
from one of the one-page articles in Shonen Jump.  
  
?The given name for Ami's mother is a nod to Sailor   
  
Moon Millennials by The Judge, as that is the name   
  
he chose to give Ami's mother.  
  
?I am sure everyone knows why there is a frozen   
  
statue of Minako in the Tsukino household. Like many   
  
elements of my story, that part was completely   
  
unplanned and was told to me by the muse.  
  
?Well here is to seeing if I get a manage a final   
  
chapter this year.  
  
?Oh and my titles have taken a break from Babylon 5,   
  
mainly as I have used up all easy to apply ones and   
  
plus this chapter is really hard to pick a good   
  
title for.  
  
?And a reminder to everyone that I have a yahoo   
  
groups mailing list that is used exclusively for   
  
emailing announcements of the posting of new   
  
chapters. Either send an email to: FOTupdates-  
  
subscribe@yahoogroups.com or visit   
  
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FOTupdates/. And given how   
  
infrequent that is, it is probably quite useful. ? 


	32. The Needs of the Moon

**The Fragility of Time**  
**BOOK TWO: "Falling Towards Apotheosis"**  
**The Fragility of Time BOOK TWO: "Falling Towards Apotheosis"**  
**Chapter 32: "The Needs of the Moon"**  
Author: etj4Eagle  
Email:  
  
Lasted Edited: 11/7/04

Disclaimer: A reminder I own none of the characters of this story, all rights are owned by others. However, the unique circumstances of the story are mine. If you distribute the story, do only so freely and inform me of where you post it.

Hearing the door to the house open, Mercury looked up from her book and saw that it was Usagi and her family returned from their trip. Glancing back at her textbook she memorized the current page number before closing the book and placing it down on the end table. Standing up, she proceeded to summon her computer and visor while walking over to Usagi. By the time she reached her best friend, she was already running a detailed scan of the other girls vitals. Consequently one would have thought she would have noticed the warning signs of the pending brain activity crash in Usagi. However, she didnt and was instead only alerted to Usagis fainting by the sudden high pitch trill her computer emitted, barely giving her enough time to catch Usagi.

Though catch was probably too generous a word for what Mercury was able to do, as she was not able to arrest Usagis downward momentum, only gently guide the two of them down to the ground. With Usagi laid down beside where she now knelt on the floor; an apologetic Mercury looked up at her friends mother, hoping that the other woman did not blame her for what just happened. But she didnt have long to worry, as Usagi began to stir almost immediately having only momentarily blacked out.

Ooh, that was not fun. The silver haired girl complained from where she. Looking up at her savoir, he brow crumpled as she tried to remember what was going on. The last thing she could remember was arriving home, but Ami was in her Mercury form?

Seeing the obvious confusion on her friends face, Mercury decided to help her out. Im only in this form because Minako-chan decided to come along and help.

Mina-chan is here? Usagi replied enthusiastically. And then with some confusion continued, But that doesnt explain why you are in your Senshi form.

Ikuko, standing at her daughters feet, on the other hand did understand how Minako was the simple and very complete explanation as to why Sailor Mercury was here instead of Mizuno Ami. And she was very glad that Ami was here as Sailor Mercury and that she would not be having to live through first hand some of those horror stories ChibiUsa had recounted to her. And for this reason she said a silent prayer of thanks to Kami-sama.

Releasing a sigh, Ami raised her right hand and pointed towards a frozen statue of Minako, I am in my Mercury form because I had to do that.

You froze Mina-chan? asked an incredulous Usagi, as she scrambled to her feet and dashed to check on her friend.

Hai, I did. If I hadnt this house would be a disaster area. As it is, it took me the better part of three hours to put things back together and I had only finished a few minutes before you arrived. Ami explained as she reverted back to her civilian form. With her Senshi form released, her control over her spells was also released and the ice trapping Minako vanished.

Released of her icy prison, the warrior of love collapsed to the ground with uncontrollable shivers while also uttering,  what are you doing? the sentence that she had been speaking prior to her being flash frozen. However the shivers were short lived now that she was free of the frigid cold of Mercurys spell. And on top of that, she quickly found herself wrapped up tightly in Usagis arms.

She lay in Usagis arms for a few minutes, enjoying the warmth of the other girls embrace. While she couldnt see anything other than Usagis blouse and had not had time to focus on anything other than the floor before she was wrapped up in this embrace, she realized from the commotion about that the Tsukinos were back and knew instantly from the love that was radiating from the one holding her that it was Usagi who was holding her.

When she finally decided to break free of Usagis embrace she pulled back slightly so that she could look the other girl in the face. As she did, she remembered that Usagi was the sick one and the prior incident with Ami was completely forgotten, as she once again became Nurse Venus. Usagi youre back. Dont worry about anything, Nurse Venus is here to take care of you. Minako declared as she suddenly pulled out of Usagis embrace and adjusted her position so that she was now holding the other girl instead.

It was at this point that, Usagi first took notice of the nurse outfit that Minako was wearing. Unsure of why she was suddenly feeling trepidation to this declaration, Usagi mumbled an uncertain assent.

Come on lets get some soup into you. My grandmothers secret recipe is bound to have you feeling better in no time. Minako announced with enthusiasm. Then glancing briefly at Ami, added with a less pleasant tone, I would already have had a bowl ready for you, but someone decided to pour it down the drain.

Guilt crossing Amis face, she defended herself by saying, I am sure that your grandmother had a great recipe, but I dont think it called for two chili peppers, four cloves of garlic, raw eggs in addition to whatever else you put in it. If she had drunk that, she would have spent the next two days in the bathroom thoroughly cleaning out her digestive system.

Bah, you just dont have faith. Minako replied, not at all fazed by what Ami had said.

When I poured it down the drain, it violently reacted with what was in trap. Amis attempts to defend her actions were silenced as Ikuko come up beside her and placed a soft hand on her shoulder. Looking up at the older woman, she allowed herself to be led back to the couch.

Sitting down beside Ami, Ikuko said, Dont worry, I know that you had Usagis and our best interests at heart with what you did. And I am sure you did not take the action of freezing Minako without trying every other option first. ChibiUsa told me about Minako and her attempts to help the sick this weekend. Hearing that Ikuko knew full well what Minako was capable of the tension in the blue haired girls body faded, no longer worried about having to defend her actions. Now you just sit here and relax, Ill go watch Minako. Here you can continue reading your book. Ikuko trailed off at the end as she saw exactly what book Ami was reading. _ Well if anybody should be reading a Steven Hawkings book, it should be her. _

Getting up from the couch, Ikuko headed over to the kitchen. Walking in she saw ChibiUsa barely constraining her amusement while Minako attempted to make something and Usagi looked on dubiously.

Now we just need to puree it for five minutes in the blender and then nuke it for thirty seconds and the patented Aino family instant energy drink will be ready. Minako declared as she poured the contents of a mixing bowl into the blender. Putting the bowl in the sink she placed the lid on the blender and pushed the on button.

In the future when Ikuko thought back to this incident she never was able to figure out what happened next. The mixture, whatever it was (and from some of the makings of it scattered on the kitchen counter she never dared to hazard a guess as to what Minako was putting in that drink) did not appear to be anything that should have given the blender any trouble. There was no logical reason why the blender should have just exploded as it did, bit it did. The motor hadnt even started when the explosion occurred. All she knew was that from one moment to the next tranquility became chaos. She just counted herself lucky for listening to the sudden gut need to bring her arms up over her head and to turn her body away from the table.

Lowering her arms and turning back to look at the devastation, Ikuko discovered that she was wearing some of what she now realized to be a quite awful smelling broth. The walls of the kitchen were covered in many areas by that broth as well and she could see fragments of the blender in some of the cabinets. That ignited her motherly instinct, suddenly fearing for injury of the three girls.

Rushing forward she found Usagi lying on the ground on her back with her crystal lying on her chest. Even before she knelt down to look at her daughter, Usagi was attempting to sit up. Ooh what youma hit me that time? she said as for the second time that day she found herself waking up after being knocked out. Releasing a sigh, Ikuko turned to locate the other two girls, though a part of her mind was telling her that something was up, especially since Usagi was lying a decent distance from where she had been standing only moments before.

Looking for Minako and ChibiUsa, Ikuko noticed that the kitchen table was now upturned and on the other side of the room. Not even trying to figure that one out she instead just located Minako and ChibiUsa. Minako was on the ground not that far away, though she was leaning on the dishwasher door with a clearly perplexed expression on her face. ChibiUsa for her part was still sitting on a chair by the door to the rest of the house, but had a very clear I am not amused expression on her face and was completely drenched in Minakos concoction.

As it looks like the kitchen is going to be out of commission for a while, I suggest that the two of you all head up stairs and wash off. Usagi, could you find some clothes that Minako can borrow. Make sure to bring down the clothes that you are currently wearing so that I can throw them into the wash.

Hai. The three girls agreed as they began to move. Upon standing up, Usagi looked around and not understanding what had just happened asked, What happened?

Minako-chan blew up the blender. ChibiUsa stated with a hint of amusement in her voice as she headed out of the kitchen.

But that doesnt explain why Usagi has the Ginzuishou out. Minako added, stopping her exit.

Actually it does. The crystal must have reacted to Usagis sudden feeling of danger the only way it could in the split second it had. A voice explained from the doorway. Looking that way, the four occupants saw a very amused Ami standing there. Then continuing, Ami said, The crystal released a pulse of energy, knocking everything away from it. As a result, Usagi was spared from the blender debris. However, being caught off balance she was knocked over by the force of the blast. Then suddenly producing a small camera she snapped a picture of Minako and then one of ChibiUsa before returning to the couch.

Minako was about to give chase to Ami to get the camera back, however she caught the eyes of Ikuko before even one foot had left the ground. The reproving look she was given ended those thoughts and instead she headed upstairs with ChibiUsa to get changed. Usagi for her part stayed in the kitchen with her mother.

Usagi was looking around the kitchen and taking in the full scope of the disaster when her mother said, Dont worry, Ill get it myself. After ChibiUsa and Minako finish getting washed up, I want you to take a long soak in the furo. You may be feeling better, but you dont want to push yourself too much and this will help relax your muscles after the long car ride.

* * *

Thirty minutes later found Usagi enjoying the warmth of the hot water. Instantly upon getting in the furo, she had felt the tension in her wing muscles fade away. So content she was, that she did not notice the knocking on the rooms door at first. It was only when the tepid knocking repeated itself that she realized that someone was trying to get her attention.

Yes? she responded.

A timid voice then proceeded to ask, Usagi-chan may I come in, I would like to run some scans.

Usagi could clearly tell by the tone of Amis voice that something was bothering the other girl quite a bit. Not even considering the loss of privacy she replied, Hai, you can.

Arigatoo, Usagi-chan. Ami said as she entered the room and walked over to where Usagi was soaking. She avoided looking at Usagi as she walked over and even still after she had sat down on the floor and began to run her scans.

The two of them remained in silence for a couple of minutes with Usagi continuing to relax in the tub while Ami scanned her. However, upon glancing over at her friend, she realized that Ami wasnt paying any attention at all to the computer and instead appeared to be lost in thought. She also instinctively knew that Ami wasnt lost in her analysis of the situation and her efforts to find the solution. No she knew that Ami was lost in thoughts of worries.

Ami-chan, what is wrong? Usagi asked with a comforting voice.

Mom arrived a little while ago and she and your mom have been talking about what happened at your aunts place. My brief scan from when you first arrived did not turn up any signs of infection or disease. Of course I could easily have missed something. But I am just worried that this is related to what is happening when you try to use the Moon Tier. Ami explained. Initially as she began to talk, she continued to stare out into the same spot in space nor did she adjust her position at all. But then at the end she turned to look at Usagi with barely held back tears.

Seeing those tears, Usagi got up so that she was kneeling at the side of the tub and opened her arms. Ami did not need any prodding and was a moment later nestled inside of Usagis arms against the girls chest. Holding Ami tight, Usagi also wrapped her wings around her friend.

Letting Usagi rock her back and forth, Ami continued her explanation, though this time it was partially broken up with sobs and hiccups. I Im just worried that this means that something is going to happen to you. That before long youll not be able to sustain yourself anymore and youll die.

Usagis eyes went wide as she heard Ami explain her fears. She had never considered the possibility that this was anything more than just some minor nuisance. Though even with hearing Ami voice those fears, she did not consider that possibility any more likely.

If something were to happen to you, I just dont know what Id do. You mean so much to me. Youre the one who was able to see through my intelligence to see the real me inside, the one who brought that me out of hiding. But I dont think I can continue to remain this way without you here with me. Also you are the glue that holds all of us together, we wouldnt be the same without you.

Usagi listened to Amis words never having thought about how she was the glue that had brought the very divergent group of girls together, making them friends of one and another. She wanted to believe that they would continue to be there for each other even if something happened to her. But for some reason she knew that Ami was right, the group would last for a little while, but eventually they would start to drift apart. And then there was Naru, Naru didnt even have the others should something happened. Thinking about her best friend for a moment, Usagi realized that she had been neglecting her friend. Before there was the excuse of them being Sailor Senshi, but now that Naru knew everything there was no reason why she couldnt be part of the group activities.

But those thoughts were not for now; right now she had to find a way to reassure her very distraught friend. Resting her head against Amis, she made soothing sounds as if she was quieting a baby now that Ami had finished talking. As she slowly felt Amis grip loosen from a death grip to something more relaxed she finally spoke, Ami dont worry Ill always be here for you.

Unwrapping her wings and arms from Ami, she pushed the other girl back and bit. A glance at Amis face showed that her friend was not buying it, but Usagi continued. Yes its true, no matter what happens, I will always be with you. I will be here in your heart guiding you even if I am no longer left. She said this as she placed a hand on Amis chest making the point. My mother, Queen Serenity is still here to guide me as a ghost and I will guide you one way or the other. But dont think that I am going to be dieing anytime soon. Mamo-chan still needs to marry me and theres still more of Reis Manga that I havent read, oh and there is sale at the mall in three weeks, plus the new Sailor V video game

By the time that Usagi got to the Sailor V video game as a reason why she couldnt die anytime soon, Ami found herself unable to control her giggles. There feeling better now? Usagi asked the giggling girl.

Hai, Arigatoo Usagi. Ami replied.

No problem, however we should think about finding you a change of clothes as well.

Why? Ami asked before she looked down at her own clothing and realizing that they were dripping wet, that being the one downside of getting hugged by someone who was in the tub. Oh. She said as she realized the answer. Usagi smiled as she got out of the tub and wrapped herself up in a towel and then proceeded to lead Ami to her room so that the two of them could put on some dry clothing.

* * *

By the time that Ami and Usagi returned to the living room, Ikuko and Rikou had moved beyond talking about Usagis condition and unto other topics. Hearing the steps of the two girls as they entered the room, Rikou looked up. Seeing her daughter clothed in some of Usagis clothing she raised an eyebrow, but did not say anything more, given that Minako was also borrowing some clothing while her clothes were washed. Though Rikou had thought Ikuko had said that Ami was not in the kitchen during Minakos failed attempt to make a power drink. And while she felt guilty for thinking it, she was silently glad that the blender had exploded, as she was sure she would be in the hospital right now having Usagis stomach pumped if Usagi had actually drunk that concoction.

Rikou waited for Usagi to sit down first and to then take one of the cookies, which she had brought over, off the table to munch on before she got up. Usagi-chan I would like to give you a quick examination.

Pulling back her hand, which had been reaching for one of the two untouched teacups, Usagi looked up at Mizuno-san and said, Ok, go ahead.

Dont worry this wont take too long and then you can have your tea. Rikou said. Then turning back to the table for a moment she picked up her medicine bag and placed it on the table. Opening it out she took out her stethoscope and pressure cuff. She started by first taking Usagis blood pressure and measuring her heart rate, she skipped taking the girls temperature given that she had just come from a hot bath. Following that she moved on to check Usagis eyes, ears and throat.

Finishing up some minutes later, she placed the disposable parts of her instruments into a medical waste bag and then put everything back into her bag. I am all finished Usagi, you can have some tea and some more cookies now. she said with a smile, before walking back over to where she had been sitting before. Taking a seat she said, Well to my cursorily examination Usagi appears to be perfectly fine. It is entirely possible that whatever she has may be in remission. Even still there should still be some evidence of it in her blood and there are a couple of blood tests that I would like to run, though youll need to bring her by the hospital tomorrow so that I can draw her blood and run those tests. That request did not earn a happy face from Usagi who very much did not like needles.

As it is right now, I have no idea what was wrong with her and I dont understand how she can appear to be so healthy now after your description of how she was the past few days. I guess it is possible that she had caught a nasty flue bug but that her unique physiology allowed her to fight it off faster. That is my best guess right now, but I cant really be sure. All I can say is to continue watching her for the next few days and if anything appears to be off give me a call. Then remembering that her daughter had that computer of hers, she looked over at Ami and asked, Ami does your computer detect anything that might be wrong with Usagi?

Looking up from her computer, Ami replied, Iie, all my scans show Usagi to be perfectly healthy and fully regained of her energy. While she had some concerns of which she had just recently partially voiced to Usagi, she gave no hint of those to her or Usagis mom. She did not have anything concrete to base them on and did not want to needlessly worry Usagis parents; she also felt that she really should not have bothered Usagi with those fears either.

* * *

Later that night found Artemis and Luna outside of the Amis bedrooms window. Hearing their light scratching of the window, Ami got up from her desk where she was still staring at her computer scans and walked over to the window. Opening the window, she let the two cats in.

Luna-chan, Artemis-chan, what are the two of you doing here? she asked.

Luna here thinks that something is bothering you and therefore concluded that that means that something is wrong with Usagi. I tried to tell her that you would have told us if something was wrong owe! Artemis yelped the last bit as Luna gave him a swipe with her claws.

Luna did not give any explanation for her swipe, but anyone looking at her face could tell that she was not at all pleased with Artemiss explanation and how he portrayed her concern. Nothing was said for the next few minutes as Ami sat at her chair looking at the two cats that patiently sat on her floor.

Six minutes after she had let them in, Ami spoke, At first glance Usagi appears perfectly healthy. But that is the problem; she is too healthy. There should be some indication of her illness, especially given how low her energy was this morning and yesterday. The way ChibiUsa described Usagis moon mark indicates that something was directly effecting Usagis energy levels, however my scans this evening show that everything is perfectly fine, that she was fully recovered. But that should not be the case. Ugh! Ami exclaimed frustrated by her inability to solve the problem as she threw up her hands.

Ami-chan I am sure that you will figure out what you are missing. Luna said.

Hai, and remember that Usagi is okay right now so dont kill yourself trying to solve the problem. Artemis said

Hai, I know, but even still.

Already knowing what Ami was going to say this, Luna and Artemis had gotten up from where they had been sitting on the floor to climb into her lap where they began to purr. No further conversation followed. An hour later, the two cats bid their farewell to a now relaxed Ami-chan who proceeded to turn in.

* * *

Racing through the hallsThursday morning, Usagi turned the corner and entered her classroom a whole five minutes before the bell. Only slightly out of breath she found Naru and walked over to her best friend. Naru saw the silver-haired girl walking over her way and thanked Kami for sending her salvation from Uminos fascinating description of the life cycle of the humble earthworm. She couldnt remember what had started him down this track. They had started by discussing some of the latest gossip, but how that had migrated to earthworms she had no clue.

Umino-kun, sorry but I need to go speak with Usagi a bit before class starts. Girl stuff you know. she said as she extracted herself from Umino.

Hai, dont worry we can continue during lunch, their reproduction is quite fascinating.

Naru tried to avoid showing any emotion other than looking utterly forward to that discussion. Then turning to look at Usagi she gave her friend a large smile as she said, Usagi-chan youre on time this morning.

Dont act so surprised Naru, I have been getting better.

Hai, youre right, you were only late once in the past two weeks. Naru agreed.

So what was Umino telling you about? It did not appear to be the latest gossip.

Iie unfortunately gossip somehow migrated into earthworms. Naru said while making a gagging expression flowed by a chuckle that Usagi joined her in.

Well thats Umino for you. Say what are your plans for this weekend? Theres that new movie opening Friday night.

Hai that sounds great, though Friday doesnt work for me. My mom needs me to help her with the end of the monthly financials at her store. But I should be free Saturday, and that will keep me from having to help her clean out the storeroom. The last bit she said with a smile.

Ok, how about I meet you at that sushi place for lunch? Usagi suggested.

Iie. Naru replied while shaking her head. If I do that I will be there for a few hours while you sleep in some more. No I will come by your house at 11 to meet up with you.

But that means I have to get up earlier Usagi whined, but was cut short by the bell. And the two girls joined the rest of their classmates in taking their seats as Haruna-sensei entered the room.

* * *

That night the Sailors sat around the Tsukino household munching on cookies that Ikuko had prepared for them. Off to one side Ami sat punching away at her computer while Luna, Artemis and Setsuna looked on. The four talked softly amongst themselves, making sure that they all agreed with Amis analysis and conclusions. Luna had of course seen the results the previous day and had then called for this meeting. Even still she was closely looking over the data a second time trying to discover some error she had made; unfortunately she found none.

Ami-chan while I do know some of what is happening to the princess. The specifics of her condition are unknown to even me, as this power that she is coming into was not supposed to occur until later. Some of it even millennia in the future. Setsuna said. _ That and the final awakening marks the end of my guardianship and hence my knowledge of the future . _Setsuna added to silently to herself. With that said, I have to agree with your analysis.

Setsunas mention of Usagi coming into this power millennia in the future caught Amis attention and she filed it away in the back her mind as another clue to puzzle over later. Looking at Luna and Artemis and getting nods from the two of them, Ami stood up and walked over to where the rest of the group was sitting. The others quickly noticed Amis arrival and lapsed into silence. Usagi and Rei who were stalking Shingo with murder in their eyes also moved away from the boy and found seats with the others.

Minna-san I think I have an idea of what caused Usagis illness last weekend. Ami said. Both the tests that I ran using my computer and that my mom ran on the blood sample from Usagi did not turn up any sign of disease. As far as we can tell, Usagi was never sick last weekend. And while it is possible that maybe her body or the Ginzuishou was able to fight off the illness and completely eradicate it, none of us think that is likely. This she said while gesturing at Luna, Artemis, and Setsuna.

For one thing there is the coincidental timing of her recovery with their return to Tokyo and that it resulted in a full recovery by the time they reached home is also significant. I have theorized for a while that there is something special about Tokyo that draws the demon attacks here. After all, if Beryl had taken her energy collecting missions to another continent we would have been unable to do anything. And she actually did start her operations in England, but yet moved here and decided to continue sending new generals here after we took out each one out.

And while some of what is motivating Rubeus may be a psychological war plan, given that he is fighting a front of a war taking place against us in the future and there is the search for those talismans. The mentioning of the talismans caused the Guardian Soldiers to look at Haruka and Michiru with annoyed glares (there were still some hard feelings over the delay in the retuning of Reis heart crystal and that she might have been sacrificed to retrieve one of these talismans that Uranus and Neptune were also searching for, a mission that they insisted on doing themselves). Still he should be attempting to carrying out his energy collection missions in other areas than Tokyo, even just an hour train ride a way would be sufficient.

No there is something special about Tokyo that is drawing all our foes here. And while Setsuna wont tell me what it is, she has confirmed for me that there is something special about Tokyo, something that we will discover in the not too distant future. At this point Ami paused to take a breath and to run her calculations through her head one more time. Opening her eyes to regard the group again, she saw the warm smile on Usagis face and all of her doubts faded away. I believe that Usagi is also affected by this power, for lack of a better word, that exists in Tokyo. Somehow this is a source of her power and strength. When she left Tokyo, she left the power nexus and as a result was weakened. It was these symptoms that created the illusion of a nasty flue bug.

But Ami-chan, in the future momma goes to countries. Last year we went to Moscow. ChibiUsa replied defensively.

That is true small lady. However, what is happening to the princess is causing problems not so much because it is happening but because it is happening sooner than it was originally supposed to. Some of what is happening now has not even happened yet in the future that you come from. She is coming into her own before her body is ready to handle that responsibility. What the end results of this strain will be I do not know. I can only hope to weave a path back to the future that once was, but never knowing if I have enough thread left to make it back. Setsuna answered.

This pronouncement caused a somber mood to fall over the group. The moment of silence created by Setsunas answer extended from just a moment and into a minute and then five minutes before Makoto finally broke the silence. So how does this change things? Usagi is back to her old self, the only difference being that she might be constrained to remaining in Tokyo for the near future. Makoto said in a forced upbeat voice.

Hai that is right. Luna agreed, Amis findings are also still preliminary at this moment, as she has not been able to get a scan of Usagis body when she is away from Tokyo. Only after then will we know if this is the case and what this means.

So then lets throw Usagi in the car and go for a drive. Haruka suggested.

Actually a drive would not be best. I really need to see what happens when she is suddenly removed from Tokyo, thereby eliminating any complicating factors. We can do this using a Sailor Teleport. After talking with Setsuna and consulting with Luna and Artemis and I have found a way to do the teleport so that we can take Usagi as a passenger and additionally be able to teleport back immediately should the need arise.

What will happen is that for the first teleport: myself, Minako, Makoto, Rei, ChibiUsa and Setsuna will do the teleport taking Usagi, Haruka and Michiru as passengers. Then after we arrive at our destination, Haruka, Michiru and ChibiUsa will teleport back here with Usagi as their passenger. I know Mamoru-san can aid us by acting as a catalyst to Usagi and ChibiUsa, so he will stand near the circles helping ChibiUsa but not traveling with us.

Can this really work? a disbelieving Haruka asked.

Yes it can, you can look over the math yourself. Ami replied as she pulled out a clipboard that contained a dozen sheets of paper utterly crammed with various equations (not all of which were written in any language currently spoken on the Earth).

Oh, I think Ill take your word for it. Haruka said.

Oh and Usagi, you will need to lend ChibiUsa the Ginzuishou for these teleports.

Nani-ka! exclaimed the Sailors minus Setsuna.

Small lady will need to use the Ginzuishou to focus and amplify the teleportation magic for this to work. Dont worry; the level of control and use of the Ginzuishou is easily within ChibiUsas ability, even if she hasnt had any lessons in the future yet in using the crystal. Also there is no danger to her life from over using the power of the crystal. What she is attempting to do could be done with just a simple spell focusing crystal, unfortunately we dont have any so we will have to use the Ginzuishou instead even though it is overkill. This is also the reason why Small Lady is participating in both teleports.

And before we do this for real we are going to do a dry run over at the shrine, tonight. Then if everything works fine, tomorrow afternoon after school with you all rested, you will do this for real. Luna added.

Well then I guess I should get some dinner ready for all you girls. Ikuko said as she got up from where she had been sitting beside her husband off to one side of the room.

* * *

Later that night found the girls on the shrine grounds talking amongst themselves while Ami was making some final adjustments to her computer program.

So where are we teleporting to? Makoto asked as Ami finally returned to the group.

School was her one word reply.

That of course elicited a sharp chorus of school!? in response.

But school is over for the day and tomorrow morning is still a long way off. I dont want to go there. Why dont we go to the video arcade Usagi whined, a whine that was agreed to by a vigorous nodding Venus.

For her part, Jupiter muttered, Why am I not surprised under her breath.

Well we just want to go a short distance. And to make this easier we should go to someplace that we know, and appearing at the school should draw the least amount of attention since it should be deserted now. Ami explained. And while some of the girls did see her logic, Usagi and Minako were still not happy with Amis explanation.

As Usagi so eloquently pointed out you have school tomorrow so lets get this test underway so that you can all head home and get some sleep. Luna stated from where she, Artemis, Diana, and Urawa were sitting off to one side.

With those instructions the girls began to form up into their teleportation circles. Ami directed Usagi to stand in the center with Haruka and Michiru flanking her; she then had ChibiUsa stand slightly in front of those three. Finally she had the rest of them form a circle around those four, holding hands and facing inward.

Okay Usagi hand ChibiUsa the Ginzuishou. Ami instructed.

Hai. Usagi replied as she removed the broach from her chest and handed it over to ChibiUsa.

What am I supposed to do? an anxious ChibiUsa asked, her previous experiences with the mystical crystal of the Moon empire not being ones to inspire much confidence in her abilities. The strongest memory she of course had was of her first attempt to use it when it vanished. And then there was the hazy memory of the final battle with the Wiseman. She only really remembered discovering that the Ginzuishou had been inside of her all along when her tears had brought it out. That part of the memory was firm, but from then on what happened was more of a dream than a memory. She could remember feeling as if both Usagi and her mothers future self were there with her guiding her with what she had to do.

The eyes of everybody, except Setsuna turned to Usagi, who upon seeing their looks said. Dont look at me, I have no idea how it works. It didnt come with any instruction manual.

Usagi no baka. was Reis response.

Its okay Usagi-hime. Pluto said. You were only just beginning your lessons into using the Ginzuishou at the time of the fall. However, even if you were fully trained in the use of the crystal that would not be of any help to you now. Your use of the crystal is on an instinctive level; very different from the way the previous Moon queens have used the crystal. Knowing how they used the crystal would only confuse you and while you would be able to do some things that you cant now, you would not be able to bring out as much of its power as you can.

Okay. A now confused Usagi replied.

Small Lady, just open your mind to the crystal and the Sailor Teleport. Dont push; just guide the flow of energy. If you push, the crystal will begin drawing on your own energy, but if you just guide the flow, it will work as an amplifier and not pose any danger to you.

Uh huh. ChibiMoon replied, know holding the crystal slightly away from her body as if she was afraid that it would suddenly bite her.

Well then if everyone is ready lets get this seesaw on the road. Venus said. The others didnt even attempt to parse her mangled expression.

With that Mars, Jupiter, Mercury, Venus and Pluto began the teleport. With only four soldiers teleporting three passengers the teleportation spell built very slowly, appearing to be unstable and near collapse at many points. But ever so slowly the summoned energies began to coalesce into a sphere of energy around the group, slightly lifting them off the ground as it beet into the ground. When the four appeared to have given all they could, ChibiMoon held aloft the Ginzuishou and opened herself to its energies. From just outside the glowing sphere of energy Tuxedo-Kamen held aloft a single red rose as he focused in on his love for his future daughter, lending her his strength and guidance.

Feeling the reassuring cool damp energy wrapping around her from Tuxedo-Kamen, ChibiMoon felt the Ginzuishou pulse with energy. As she felt their warmth, the physical world around her faded away and was replaced by one in which only the magical energies summoned by her friends existed. With her mind she was able to reach out and touch the energy of their planets and direct them to pass through the crystal during their orbits. To the cats watching from a safe distance the flickering blue, red, green and violet energies suddenly began to grow in strength and stability and as they did so the group became enveloped in a silver glow. Then with a massive explosion of energy, a silver pillar arced up into the sky, blasting the earth beneath it every which direction.

The downwash from the teleport washed over the assembled onlookers. The cats where thrown helter-skelter with Artemis landing in a bush. Tuxedo-Kamen was knocked off his feet and blown backwards, however with a twist of his body he managed to land on one knee. Ryo was the only one who managed to remain on his feet, though his front side was nicely covered with a layer of dirt.

Climbing out of a bush that he had been blown into, Artemis said, Next time remind me to stand much farther away when they try that.

Luna that didnt happen last time did it? Ryo asked.

Iie, it didnt. I dont think it happened back during the Silver Millennium either. I think this teleportation downwash is caused by the girls only having barely enough energy to make the teleport. You see when you cast a spell its much harder to control the side effects if you barely have enough energy.

But didnt this use up a fair bit of their energy? Ryo asked while gesturing towards what many would think had been the result of a mini-tornado.

Yes it did, and as a result it is less taxing to cast a spell when one is fully rested then when one is exhausted. Luna replied

And to that Artemis added, It much like it how you are more prone to make errors when you are tired or exhausted.

I think I understand. Ryo replied, Though it would have been nice if my gift had been kind enough to give me a warning to this side effect. That comment gathered agreeing nods from the others.

Ryo had only just turned to look back at the spot where the girls had left when he felt his skin stand up on end. The sensation was not one that his body was so much feeling, but the magic that he had been granted the ability to use first by Metalia and then by Usagi was feeling. He instantly knew that the arrival of the others was only moments away and he was proved correct when just seconds later the inner circle of 4 Sailor Soldiers appeared.

When the light flash surrounding the girls vanished, ChibiUsas eyes went vacant as her arms dropped and the Ginzuishou fell to the ground. Bursting out from between Haruka and Michiru, Usagi caught ChibiUsa, who was know dressed in a gown instead of her Sailor Fuku, before she had fallen more than a dozen centimeters. Dropping to her knees she laid ChibiUsa down while holding her daughters head in her lap.

Dont worry, shes just tuckered out from those two teleports. I could use a nice long nap myself. Haruka said as she came up beside Usagi.

Here place her head down on the ground and raise her legs. Michiru added as she adjusted ChibiUsas position. Then seeing the confused look in Usagis eyes and the girls strong reluctance to let ChibiUsa out of her lap, Michiru added, This is how you treat fainting. She needs more blood in her head, keeping her in your lap wont help.

Not able to help herself, Luna took a jibe at her charge, Usagi-chan, didnt you just have a unit on first aid a few weeks ago?

Looking quite guilty, Usagi looked at Luna and said, Hai, I did. But it was so boring. Anyways why would I have need for any of that? Its not like I want to be a doctor.

From where she was standing, Haruka looked down at Michiru and quietly said, She didnt just say what I thought she said. The resigned shrug that she got from her love, was all the confirmation she needed, and Haruka just sighed. She was not alone in sighing, as Luna had been left speechless by that comment.

Your highness, remember that we are soldiers. You may not be looking to make a career in medicine, but you have fought enough battles when one of us has been hurt. And while Ami has done a great job so far, what if she is the next one to get hurt?

Harukas explanation only took a few moments to sink in and the result was instantaneous with Usagis expression changing instantly to one of guilt and horror. Knowing, Usagis mood swings; Luna had an idea of the scenes that Usagi was contemplating right now. But before she could try to head off Usagis thoughts, they reached the boiling point and Usagi broke out into a loud wail over how she doesnt want to kill Ami-chan.

ChibiUsa for her part had regained consciousness soon after Michiru had stretched her out on the ground. After opening her eyes and looking around and seeing nothing interesting happening and realizing that she was quite tired she had decided to just lay there resting a bit. A part of her mind also wondered if she might be able to get Usagi to carry her home. Her mothers loud wail brought an abrupt end to her resting. Usagi no baka, some of us are trying to sleep here. She yelled up at Usagi while getting up slightly and turning to face the older girl.

Hearing ChibiUsas voice instantly diverted Usagis attention and she stopped in mid wail. Reaching out she pulled a surprised ChibiUsa into a hug, holding the other girl tight she said, Youre all right. I was so worried when you passed out.

ChibiUsa debated with herself on how she wanted to respond to Usagi. Part of her wanted to continue being difficult and to tease her mother some more. But another part of her wanted to give into the warmth that she was feeling in this hug. Finally the desire to feel the warmth won out. Hai Im ok. Im just tired. ChibiUsa said with a yawn

Then lets go home. Usagi said as she pulled ChibiUsa in closer and then stood up with the younger girl still in her arms.

Watching the two begin to walk down the steps, Haruka and Michiru followed behind, knowing there was no way Usagi could make it all of the way back to the Tsukino household carrying ChibiUsa. And so Haruka planned on offering Usagi a ride home, plus she wanted to make sure her princess was not stupid enough to try to carry ChibiUsa down the shrine steps.

The cats and Mamoru followed behind Haruka and Michiru leaving Ryo as the only one left. Smiling to himself, Ryo thought for a moment of what it would be like to have his own child. To the younger part of his soul it was something mysterious and far off in the future, for the ancient part of his soul it was a reminder of a happier time. Pushing aside the two different set of feelings his thoughts turned to Ami-chan. There both parts of his soul agreed and felt the same love for the blue haired girl, both hoping that he and Ami shared some fraction of the depth of love that Usagi and Mamoru shared.

Ryo was about ready to leave the shrine when something glittering caught his eye. Walking over to look at it, he realized that the Ginzuishou had been left forgotten on the ground. Reaching down to grab it, Ryo suddenly stopped himself when a powerful vision suddenly assaulted his mind. Coming to a few minutes later, Ryo found himself lying on the ground with a blinding headache, his form having also shifted back to its natural state. _ Wow, what happened? _ he thought. Trying to force his memory to recall the vision he drew a blank. Not satisfied he tried again and again, finally by looking at the crystal while forcing his mind to recall the visions was he able to recall a few fragments.

However those fragments were not much help. All he could remember was some memory of the city, but as it must look in the future with various points glowing. He wished he could remember it more clearly, but he could not remember where any of those points were or even how many there were. The second fragment he was able to remember was of just the crystal itself and the shearing pain of it exploding into a million fragments, each one sharp as a dagger. What was also strange about those visions was that they felt like they were visions of a vision. That was just too strange for him. Though he made a mental note to speak to Rei about them, maybe she would have an idea of what the fragments meant.

Now standing up, Ryo realized that he had had one more vision, and now having dealt with the other two he could remember this one very clearly. This one required no explanation, as it was a simple warning of what would happen should he touch the crystal with his own hands. Shifting back to his human form, Ryo took off his jacket and used it to pick up the crystal. Then wrapping the crystal he began the walk to the Tsukino household, knowing that the others had already left.

Some minutes later found Ryo arriving at the Tsukino household. And just as he was opening the gate to go up the front steps, he saw the Tsukino car pull into the driveway. Tsukino Kenji proceeded to get out of the car once it was parked.

Seeing the young lad, Kenji said, Ami-chan called Usagi up on her communicator a little while back and said that she and the others were too exhausted to walk back to their homes and asked if we could come give them a lift back. As Haruka-san was still here, the two of us headed over to give them a lift home. The last part explaining why he was back so soon from giving the others all lifts home.

Im not surprised that they are tired out from their teleport, Haruka and Michiru did not look that better off and they only had to take one passenger. Oh, Usagi left her crystal at the shrine. Ryo said as he brought his left arm forward and using his right hand opened the jacket wrapping the crystal.

To Kenji the unveiling of the crystal like that was very memorizing, even though Usagi had shown it to them before. There was just something about seeing it slowly unveiled all by itself and the darkness of the night accentuated its internal glow. Snapping himself out of the trance he had fallen into, Kenji asked, Why did you have it wrapped in your jacket, Its a bit cold to go around without a jacket on.

At first I was going to pick it up with my bare hands, however I got one of my future flashes. Unlike my normal flashes this one showed me a possible future, what would happen should I actually touch the crystal. For me it would be instant death. Even for a human like you the consequences would not be good. The crystal holds so much raw power that only the purest soul could wield it and not be corrupted. I dont think even the others could withstand the siren call of the power in the crystal for long with out succumbing. Not even Ami-chan. The last bit he added quietly in a side to himself.

Kenji did not know quite what to say to that. Luna, Usagi, and Setsuna had all told him and Ikuko that the crystal was a very powerful artifact and that its power was unrivaled across the galaxy, which was why so many coveted its power and why Usagi and her friends had to fight these wars. But to be able to corrupt anyone just because of the shear power that was contained in the crystal that was a level of understanding that he had not known. Though as he thought about it, something that had the power to pull life from death and to stop a war in its tracks would have to be a very powerful object. But why would the crystal kill Ryo instead of just corrupting him, wondered Kenji as his thoughts began to turn to the first part of Ryos statement. _ Wait didnt he mention something about it having bad consequences even for humans? What did he mean by even Humans like me? _ Ryo-kun, what did you mean by distinguishing yourself from humans?

Realizing his slip of the tongue, Ryo sighed. Though the girls all knew of course what he really was no one else did, not even his parents. He also knew that Kenji and Ikuko were not going to suddenly fear him when they learned his secret, even still he wished that he had not let this out. That is because I am not quite human and in a very different way than Usagi. I am also reborn from the time of the Moon Kingdom. However, during that war I was not on the side of the Sailor Senshi, I was one of the invaders, one of Beryls elite Shadow Warriors.

There were seven of us, elite warriors from another bane in the megaverse, entranced by the power that Queen Metalia had offered us. During the battle we killed the Guardian Soldiers, but when Queen Serenity unleashed her power she sent us into the future along with her daughter and guardians. She gave the seven of us a second opportunity at life, a chance to start anew. She merged each of our souls with a piece of the Ginzuishou, binding our past and essentially creating a new soul.

As such I was born human and lived as a human for 14 years. But then when the Dark Kingdom came to claim the Ginzuishou fragments, the ancient part of my soul was released. During my awakening the two parts of my soul found harmony and I regained access to what I was before. I am now a teenager who has memories that cover millennia and whose natural form is that of a creature not of this bane and one of nightmares. But my human side is dominant and I am not the one that I once was, I only have his memories, I am instead Ryo Urawa.

While Ryo had been giving his explanation, Kenji had come in close. Reaching an arm around Ryo, he embraced the young man. I know that was hard for you, especially to admit that you at one time once attacked my daughter. But I trust you and I know that you are no longer that creature. Come why dont we head in so that you can give Usagi back her crystal.

Ryo nodded his agreement to that and pushed back the sadness his story was threatening to bring up.

Anyways if you had any ounce of evil left in you, I know that you would not be here with that crystal. Instead you would be out there forcing the teachers to give extra tests and requiring 16-hour school days. Kenji said with a smile on his face, hoping to get a similar reaction from Ryo. And he was not disappointed, as Ryo could not hold his chuckles in for more than two attempts.

By the time Ryo arrived up at Usagis room he had managed to get his chuckles under control, however he did have a massive grin across his face, a grin that instantly caught Usagis attention. Ryo-kun! What are you doing here? Usagi asked, quite surprised to see Ryo. And what is so funny. She asked after realizing that her dad also sported an identical grin.

Ryo-kun and I were just discussing what he should do should he ever decide to take over the planet. I think he had finally decided on 4 extra hours of homework a night and 2 additional hours of school each day. Kenji replied with a very large smile.

Ahhh! Usagi screeched, Who in their right mind would ever want to increase the amount of homework and school? From where she sat on the bed flipping through a manga, ChibiUsa vigorously nodded her agreement. And while Luna would normally have scolded her charge for screeching as she had just, she did have to agree that Ryos fantasy seemed just a bit unpleasant.

As to why I am here, you left this at the shrine. Ryo said has he once again held out his jacket and unwrapped the Ginzuishou.

Kenji and Ryo could see in the reactions of the three room occupants the mental hand slapping against the foreheads that was going on. Luna began to open her mouth to yell at Usagi for forgetting the crystal, but closed it when she realized that she herself had also been there and so was therefore also partially responsible.

Usagi silently accepted the crystal and returned it to her locket. Deciding not to add to the guilty feeling of the others, Ryo and Kenji left the room and headed back down the stairs. Taking his leave from Tsukino Kenji, Ryo opened the door and walked out. However, Kenji followed him on out.

I am guessing that you havent told your family your secret yet. I think you should. You need all your loved ones, not just Ami, to know the truth about you. I understand if you are scared about telling them and dont worry I wont tell them. That bit caused Ryo to let out a small sigh as he had been starting to worry that Kenji was going to go tell them if he didnt. And if you ever feel the need to talk to someone, you can always come and talk to either me or Ikuko.

Arigatoo. Ryo replied suddenly finding that he felt relieved knowing that he had an adult he could turn to, someone who knew about the real him. Ill think about it. Ryo said, with the standard teenager intent of not following through, but also knowing that he was going to have to face it that he would not be able to hide away the need to talk to his parents forever.

* * *

School the following day passed quickly for the various warriors, each more lost in their thoughts over what was going to happen during the teleport than paying attention to their lessons. While they now knew that they could make the teleport, each was worried as to what would happen to Usagi and what this would mean for their friends future. Each loved her dearly and wished there was some other way to test Amis theory so as not to put Usagi in any discomfort. Besides Setsuna, only Ami had any idea of how dangerous this test could really be for Usagi.

With the ringing of the bell sounding the end of day, the Sailors along with Ryo and Naru left the school grounds and headed for Reis shrine. Arriving at the shrine they found that Minako and Rei had made it there before them. Grabbing some brooms they helped Rei with her chores before the ensemble cast retired to her room to begin their schoolwork. Or as was normally the case, some did their schoolwork and others tried to sneak into Reis manga stash. In all it was a typical study session for the gathered friends, if a bit more somber in mood than normal.

As the hour approached six, ChibiUsa arrived at the shrine, having spent the afternoon with Hotaru.

Konichiwa ChibiUsa-chan. How was school? Yuuichirou called out as ChibiUsa entered the Hino residence.

Konichiwa Yuuichirou-san. ChibiUsa replied. School was ok, but then me and Hotaru-chan went to the park and that was lots of fun. ChibiUsa finished her statement with a very large smile.

Usagi-chan and the others are in Reis room. However dinner is just about ready, so why dont you go let them know while I set out the food.

Hai! ChibiUsa agreed

* * *

Grandpa Hino was strolling through the courtyard of the shrine when he heard the footsteps of someone walking up the steps to the shrine. While he had no watch on he had no doubt that it was precisely 7:15 and that this was the final guest that Rei had told him would be joining her group. Heading over to great his guest he saw that she had a peculiar greenish tint to her hair. He also had a hard time believing that this lady was here to see his daughter and join in the study session. She appeared to be at least in her mid-twenties and looked to be very well off and probably an executive of some company from the way she was dressed.

I take it you must be Meiou-san. Grandpa Hino said with a bow.

Setsuna returned the bow. Hai I am. You have a very lovely shrine here, thank you for lending me the honor of visiting it.

It is not much, but me and my daughter along with my disciple try our best to maintain it. Here let me escort you to where my daughter and her friends are.

Arigatoo. Setsuna replied before following the older gentleman off towards the living quarters.

As they walked Hino-san finally asked, If you dont mind Meiou-san, but could you tell me what your connection to my granddaughter is?

Dont worry I am not connected to Reis father in any manner. Actually my connection is not so much to Rei as it is to Usagi. I have been away for many years, but I was a good friend of Usagis mother and Usagi herself when she was much younger. My work still keeps me quite busy, but I still try to make time when I can. Setsuna replied making liberal use of neglecting a thousand years here and there.

Grandpa Hino nodded his understanding to what Setsuna said. _ I wonder how old she actually is, if she knew Usagi a long time ago and was friends with Ikuko-san then. She has to be at least in her mid thirties if not over 40, if what she is saying is true. _However that still does not explain why you are here tonight.

Setsuna gave Reis grandfather a smile knowing that he would not be easily deceived by her normal way of responding but not actually answering the asked question. Then with a larger smile she replied, I am sure you know Usagi-chans fathers reputation with regard to boys, especially older ones. Usagi-chan and Mamoru-kun plan on going on a date tonight after she finishes her studies, I will be tagging along discreetly to satisfy Tsukino-san.

That response was met by a very hearty chuckle from Grandpa Hino. Hai, I do know Tsukino-sans habit of threatening to kill anybody who would think of dating his daughter. I am glad to see that he has found a slighter better solution. Though of course my granddaughter wont be dating till she is thirty. Oh here we are, well have a good evening Meiou-san.

Arigatoo, Hino-san for showing me the way. Setsuna replied with a bow before entering the room. Inside she saw her princess and fellow warriors, Mamoru, Naru, ChibiUsa, Urawa, and of course the three cats. How they all were managing to fit into this small room with out some kind of fight breaking out amazed Setsuna. But now was not the time to worry about that bit of good luck, now was time for their teleportation attempt.

* * *

Once again Ryo watched in awe as colored pillars of energy formed into a single silver pillar before streaking out into the night sky. And once again Tuxedo-Kamen was blown backwards, though this time he was not so lucky and hit a tree. Ryo and the others this time, however, had the foresight to stand a further distance away from the teleportation. Unfortunately Tuxedo-Kamen helping as we was in the teleport did not have that option.

The silver rainbow had only been gone for a minute when a return arc of energy followed, depositing Uranus, Neptune, ChibiMoon and Usagi on the ground. From where she was standing, Naru did not like the lifeless way that Usagi had slumped to the ground with the others upon their return. She was sure that Usagi had told her that she was the only one who did not participate in any of the teleportation, which could only mean that something was very wrong.

Consequently when Sailor Uranus barked out, The princess needs help! Naru was already running as fast as she could to the recent arrivals.

The statement instantly stirred Tuxedo-Kamen back to his feet and he also began running along with the others to Usagi. He arrived second, just after Naru had picked Usagi up from the ground to cradle in her lap and sat down beside the girl.

Arriving third, Ryo walked over to where Mercurys computer lay on the ground and was emitting a very erratic set of beeps. Picking it, up his eyes went wide as he saw the currently displayed history.

Even though ChibiMoon had passed out again after completing the teleport, she had only just hit the ground when she woke back up. Not having the energy she crawled over to where Mamoru and Naru were holding Usagi. Dropping her head onto Usagis belly while wrapping her arms tight around the girls waist, she tearfully cried, Momma wake up! Please wake up.

Rolling herself onto her side, Michiru propped herself up. Everything happened so fast, we are not sure what happened. She began, trying to explain why Usagi was in her current shape. Even before we had finished the teleportation, Mercurys computer began to beep very rapidly and then suddenly its tone became continuous and Mercury screamed at us to teleport back immediately.

What you mean? asked a very agitated Luna.

Luna dont take out your frustration on them, they did the only thing they could do and that was to teleport back here as fast as possible. Artemis said as he came up beside Luna and began to purr, trying to calm her down some.

Artemis is right. According to these reading from Amis computer Usagi fat lined moments after they arrived at their destination.

You mean shes ? Luna asked, unable to finish the question.

No, death only occurs if that is allowed to continue. And while the readings are not very good, they do indicate that she is still alive. Ryo said.

Hai, she is still breathing. Naru said, being able to easily tell as she was holding the other girl after all.

Even still I dont like what the computer is showing me. We need to get her to a hospital and fast. Without immediate medical care she will likely get far worse. Ryo said, having to call upon the ancient part of his soul in order to keep his emotions in check. _ Even if we do call an ambulance, I dont think they will be able to get Usagi to a hospital in time. _ Ryo thought to himself, he did not want to share that fear with the others, knowing that they needed at least some hope to keep them going. _ I just wish that there was something I could do for her. I have all this power to kill and take life, power that I no longer want but I am powerless to help one who means so much to me. Wait, before the greet sleep, Metalia had punished me sometimes by taking away my strength and at other times had invigorated me my giving me extra strength. I wonder if the same is now true of Usagi, given that she is now my liege and in a way my master. _

Grasping onto that single ray of hope and kindling it into a bright light in his heart, he let go of the Mercury computer and began to walk towards Usagi. As he approached his form shifted away from his human-self to his Shadow-shelf The others all instinctively pulled away from this creature of the night, which walked on many pointed legs and had eyes which seemed to bore into ones soul. Only Mamoru, ChibiUsa and Naru stayed where they were. ChibiUsa had her face lost in her mothers shirt, having not relented the least on her death grip and Naru was of course unable to move, given as Usagi was lying in her lap.

Even though their base instinct was one of fear and fright, they all knew not to be afraid of Ryo. Not just because they knew who he was, but also because the bright glowing crescent moon on his forehead reassured all who looked at it. Moving to kneel down on the other side of Naru from where Mamoru was, Ryo reached out and placed what went for a hand in this form on Usagis shoulder and closed his eyes. Looking into his soul he tried to find his connection to his liege, but he was unable to find any hint of that connection.

Growling a mind-shattering screech of frustration, Ryo redoubled his efforts to find that connection and was finally awarded to find her presence at the very edge of his senses. He could instantly tell that she was quickly slipping away from the rest of the world. Now with a focus he attempted to in his minds eye to reach out and grab a hold of Usagi. But every attempt he made was met with failure. The first time his fingers grazed the edge of her body. He then tried a second, third and a twenty-fourth time, but each of those subsequent tries fell further and further short. _ This is hopeless; there is no way that I am going to be able to reach her. If only I had tried this sooner; I would have reached her, I just needed only a few more seconds. _ Ryo thought as utter failure fell on his shoulders.

If you want to save her, I can help. Stated a female voice.

Confused Ryo turned to find the speaker. He had no idea how someone could be here with him in his minds eye. Finding the speaker, he was unable to make out any of her appearance, as shadows clung to her body as if they were a second skin.

Who are you? he asked.

Your master.

I serve no master any more. I am in the service of Tsukino Usagi, Princess Serenity of the Moon Kingdom.

The shadow figure chuckled. How deranged you are to believe that lie. You think a simple rebirth could cleanse your soul? You are mine for all time. There is no way for someone as pure as Sailor Moon to have you in her service. This is only a short respite, once again you will become the soldier of death and march to my tune.

I will not Ryo yelled as he lunged at this figure. However, before his feet could even leave the ground a staff was jammed into his gut sending him down to the ground and in quite a bit of pain. Walking up beside Ryo, this master jammed her staff down on his chest and then proceeded to hold it in that painful position.

You will.

Looking up Ryo was finally able see something more than just shadows, he was able to see very cold violet eyes looking down at him. But then suddenly they softened and the staff was gone. Finding himself back on his feet and this time in an open field with Usagi laying not too distant from where he stood he looked at this master in confusion.

You called upon me for a reason. I am not cruel; I just have the task of bringing an end to creation. However it is not her time and I have decided to help you accomplish your noble task. Now go kneel down beside her and place your hands on her chest and concentrate, dont force it. Ryo did as she instructed and was able to quickly feel a warm glow build at his hands, which flowed from there into Usagis body.

Looking back at the shadow figure in order to thank her he did get the change as reality shifted back to normal and his minds eye world vanished. Turning back to Usagi he saw that Mamoru also now had his hands on Usagis chest and they were glowing with a golden glow.

Looking at Usagis face he could already see the difference that their combined efforts were making. Color was returning to her cheeks and he could now hear that her breathing had become steady. Looking into her sleeping eyes, reality once again faded away. This time it was replaced by a battle taking place somewhere in Tokyo. The droid the Senshi were facing threw Sailor Mars into what appeared to look like a building made out of crystal. Mars left a noticeable dent in the side of the building before falling down onto a Model T Ford parked at its base.

The vision then suddenly shifted forward in time to all the Sailor Senshi except for Sailor Pluto staring up into the sky at a floating red headed man, whom Ryo figured must be Rubeus. He could not hear what Rubeus was saying, but he did see him snap his fingers. With the snap of his fingers, time came to a crawl for Ryos minds eye. He could hear the others suddenly cry out Sailor Moon, NO! But as that was happening his view moved to an eagle eye view of the city. As the city became but a backdrop intense points of light became visible on the city, each one crawling with energy. Then in time with the end of Rubeuss snap, the points of white energy suddenly flickered and became as black as night. As each one gave over to darkness, a tendril of black energy snaked out to connect it to one of its neighbors and then when they were all connected the manna nexus erupted into the afternoon sky.

Ryo had a sickening feeling as his mind processed the cry of the others from before and linked it to this nightmare of dark energy he saw in front of himself and Amis theory on what was happening to Usagi. In confirmation of that feeling of dread, the vision returned back to street level and time resumed its normal pace; this time allowing him to see the lifeless dead body of Sailor Moon fall to the ground, her fuku dissolving into nothing but pink ribbons, which themselves faded into nothingness.

Her was forced to gaze into her vacant eyes for many long minutes before his vision refocused to be looking at Mercurys computer. He watched the flat line readouts from her computer as the device produced a single solid tone. The others were too stunned to say anything, but Rubeus was not. He was laughing to the success of his attack. A laugh that continued to haunted Ryo even when the vision finally ended. Desperate to get away from that laugh and vision Ryo immediately began to back paddle upon the return of reality. However, as the horror of what he had seen continued to sink in he found that he could no longer hold down his dinner. For Naru he had thankfully just gotten far enough away from her that he did not cover her with any of it.

As Ryo lay on the ground emptying his stomach contents, Haruka who had returned to her feet, came over stand beside him and laid a comforting hand on his back. Even when he emptied his stomach the heaving continued. And it was not till six minutes later that he finally was able to get everything back under control. And the final return of control only came as a second hand was placed on his back and a soft voice asked, Ryo-chan are you okay?

I think that I am going to be okay now. Ryo said as he turned to see that Usagi was the owner of the voice and second hand. Ryo wanted to ask Usagi why she was up and about and to find out how she was doing, but seeing the concern in her eyes he knew that would only occur after he had relieved her concerns over his own welfare.

I had a vision. Ryo said, trying to figure out how to tell the person next to you that you had just seen her death.

What did you see?

Not now, I am still trying to sort it all out. Hopefully Rei might be able to make sense of what I saw both now and last night. _ And maybe if I am lucky it will turn out that my Shadow-self is skewing what I am seeing in these visions. I just hope that I am not seeing the actual future. _

* * *

TELEPORT NOW! Mercury screamed

Wha Sailor Uranus began to say.

NOW! Mercury screamed back.

Looking to quickly get away from Sailor Mercury who looked like she would kill them if they waited any longer, Uranus, Neptune, and ChibiMoon initiated their return teleport. As soon as those three along with Usagi had left Mercury slumped to the ground.

Ami what just happened. Rei asked in a very icy voice as she stalked towards Mercury.

Yes what was with the hurry and why was your computer making that steady tone? Venus asked.

The princess fell into cardiac arrest. Pluto simply stated.

Nani-ka?! the other three exclaimed.

My calculations were wrong. Mercury meekly said from where she knelt on the ground and not having the strength of heart to look up at the others, just stared into the dirt. She was still benefiting from Tokyos energy nexus out in the country. But here on the other side of the planet where she is fully isolated from that energy nexus, she is unable to live at all. I was sure that the worst that would happen, might be her falling unconscious till we got her back. I never thought that taking her away from Tokyo could actually kill her.

NANI! Mars shouted at Mercury. How could you do that to her! She trusted you!

Rei calm down. Jupiter said. She and the others had seen Reis temper before, but her worst temper explosion was mild compare to how Reis temper was boiling now.

Rei just ignored Jupiter as she began to advance on Mercury. WELL? she challenged Mercury while her hands began to glow with the energy of Mars.

Mercury for her part just lowered her head even more, presenting Rei the back of her neck, making no move to defend herself.

That does it. Jupiter exclaimed as tackled the advancing Mars. Completely focused as she was on Mercury, Mars was caught unawares. Slamming Mars into the ground, Jupiter moved quickly to take advantage of the element of surprise and rolled Mars into a wrestling hold. Looking up at Venus she said, Venus get Mercury out of here, I will take care of Mars.

Jupiter you sure? the blonde asked, not wanting to leave Jupiter with Mars in her current state.

Hai, now go! The sooner you get Mercury away from here the sooner we will be able to calm Mars down. _ Assuming that I can get her to listen to reason at all. _

Not wasting any further time, Venus run up to Mercury and picked up the other warrior in her arms. Mercury did not react at all to Venus picking her up and Venus knew that if she wanted to get Mercury to safety, she would have to carry her. Adjusting her hold of Mercury to better hold the younger girl, Venus began to race across the large park they had arrived in, heading for the buildings that lined the park and paying no attention to the very perplexed tourists. _ Have to ask Ami later what that tall pointy building is that we arrived next to. _

Venus did not break stride as she came to the end of the park and arrived at the edge of the street, instead she leapt into the traffic causing drivers to slam on their breaks. However, she never noticed since her leap was aimed to land her on the roof of a passing truck and from there she jumped to the roof of a building awning and then up to the rooftops.

Once she reached the rooftops, she took off on a diagonal, hoping that might confuse Mars if she got loose from Jupiter and Pluto. As she ran she kept checking behind herself, trying to see if Mars was in pursuit. After traveling many blocks, she felt that they had put enough distance between themselves and so she found a nearby alley and dropped back down to street level.

Putting Mercury down on her own feet, Venus released her transformation. Now with the adrenaline rush from getting away from Reis wrath gone, she began to succumb to the exhaustion of the teleportation. Stepping backwards, she leaned up against the side of the building while she tried to catch her breath. Looking over to where Ami was standing she saw that the other girl had at least also released her transformation. But that was all; Ami still had that vacant resigned look on her face.

The trilling sound of their communicators drew, Minakos attention. Venus along with Mercury here. She said as she opened it.

Pluto, Mars and Jupiter also proceeded to chime in on the line.

Just to let the five of you know, the princess is doing fine now. Ryo-kun was able to somehow fully heal the princess and now she is busy fussing over the rest of us. Harukas voice said over the link.

Thanks. The four said before closing the link.

Ami-chan dont worry Usagi is doing perfectly fine. Minako said as gathered what strength she had to move and embrace her friend.

But I I almost killed her. I If it wasnt for Ryo-chan she would be Ami tried to say as she broke down into tears.

That is very true Ami-chan. said Setsuna who had some how appeared right next to the two, startling the heck out of Minako. However if you hadnt acted as you did, then the princess would be dead for real very soon. As foolish as this test was, it was needed to cause something else to happen.

Minako did not even try to puzzle out how Setsuna had found them or how she had gotten here so quickly and did not appear to be the least bit out of breath. Looking over at Ami, Minako saw that she did appear to be mulling over what Setsuna was saying.

Know that my duty above everything else is to protect the princess. Even Small Ladys life is expendable if it will save the princess. Consequently I would never have agreed to this if I thought that it would kill her.

Now I suggest you go and enjoy your time here in this city. It will be some hours before everyone is ready to attempt another teleport. And you know that the princess will be very unhappy with you if you mope around getting depressed over what you did.

Hai, Setsunas right. Heck Usagi probably has already forgiven you for what happened. That is if she ever even thought to blame you. Youll just make her sad and feel guilty if she knows that you spent your time here like this. Anyways I know you had a good reason for picking this city as our teleport coordinates, now didnt you?

Looking up at Minako sheepishly, Ami admitted, Hai I did. I wanted to go visit some of the Smithsonian museums.

Then get going. As for myself I am going to go find a nice café to rest at. Minako said

You sure? You look tired, I could join Ami began

No, you are going to go enjoy yourself. Now get yourself going girl. Minako said as she practically threw Ami out into the street.

After watching to make sure that Ami was indeed heading away, Minako returned to the alley and collapsed to the ground. Boy am I pooped.

Here let me give you a hand, I know of a good place to get a bite to eat not far from here. Setsuna offered.

Hai, that sounds great.

* * *

Three and a half hours later, found the five warriors from Japan reassembled at the Lincoln Memorial. Setsuna had suggested this as a location for them to meet at instead of the Washington Monument where they had arrived, since they would need to find someplace with cover in which to henshin. Being out in the open with tourists and their cameras everywhere is generally not a good placed to henshin if one wants to keep secrets.

Surprisingly it was Rei who was the last of the group to arrive at the meeting place. Of the five, she was the only one who had not wandered far from their initial arrival location. She had instead decided to tour the various memorials. Early on she had come across the Vietnam memorial and that was where the rest of her time had been spent. She had slowly moved down along the length of the memorial saying a separate prayer for each name that was on that wall and then some more for the fallen of wars not remembered.

Her spirit refreshed after paying her respect to those who had valiantly fallen in the line of duty she had found another Japanese tourist so that she could ask directions on how to find the Lincoln Memorial. With the quality of her English skills she did not want to try to get directions from one of the Americans, figuring that she would just get herself even more lost.

Finally she did arrive at the meeting place and immediately walked towards Ami. She inwardly flinched as she saw Ami pull back slightly and a flicker of fear cross the other girls face. Bowing very deeply to Ami she said, Moshi wake arimasen. Mizuno-san I am very ashamed for my actions earlier. There is no excuse for how I acted and even less excuse for how I would have acted if Makoto hadnt restrained me.

Rei Ami began, however Rei did not stop her apology.

No not even my concerns over Usagis safety excuse what I did. I know she will not approve of what I did and even if she had been lost to us, that still would not excuse what I did. While the other three knew that Rei would end up apologizing what Rei did next took them all by surprise. After my actions this afternoon I dont deserve to fight alongside you anymore. Rei said as she handed over her transformation wand.

As Ami took a hold of it, she felt the power of Mars flow out of Rei and into the wand. Watching as she was from the side, Setsunas eyes went wide as she felt that transfer of power occur. _ This cant be. Rei has renounced her right to wield the power of Mars? She has embedded her Star Seed into that wand, preventing herself from ever calling upon the power of Mars again. The wands are just focusing tools, but she has made it the actual container of her power! _ Looking down at the wand she held, Ami saw that it had changed from being metallic in construction to now being constructed of some type of red crystal.

Whether you choose to take me back with you or leave me here that is your decision. And with that Rei turned her back on the others and began walking away.

Ami looked down again at the wand that she held in her hand, she did have to think about what she needed to do. Any other choice was unacceptable. Closing her hand around the wand she took off after the quickly disappearing Rei.

Makoto for her part moved to follow Ami, however Minakos hand restrained her. What are you doing? Makoto asked with an edge to her voice.

This is something Ami has to do herself. The rift between the two of them needs to be fully healed now. If not, Rei will never be able to accept the power of Mars again. Minako said

And if she does not, then she will die. Setsuna said from behind the two girls. Ignoring their reaction, she continued, Your powers are inherently interwoven with your soul. There is no way to separate them without killing the soul. Remember what her highness said before reawakening your powers? Rei may look fine now, but her soul is dieing. In an hour or so her body will begin to fade away as what is left of her soul finally fades away. In two hours, Rei will be no more and nothing not even the Ginzuishou will be able to able to bring her back.

* * *

Rei, Rei-chan wait-up. Ami called as she followed Rei out of the building and down the steps. Only when Rei reached the edge of the reflecting pool did the priestess stop walking and instead take a seat.

Taking a space beside Rei, Ami saw that Rei was avoiding her eyes. Rei-chan look at me. Ami commanded, knowing that right now she needed Rei to do as told, later would come the healing. And Rei did respond and looked into Amis eyes. Rei I accept your apology from before, but this is not the way to make it up to me. We need you, Usagi needs you. Along with Naru you are Usagis best friend. I know that you love her more than anything and probably more than you will ever love anyone else. And as such you push her to be the best that she can be. I know that every thing you do is in her best interests and that it was only your love for her that caused you to act before.

Seeing Rei attempt to say something, Ami held up her hand to silence the other girl. Just listen to me Rei. You made a mistake we all make mistakes. But no matter how bad the mistake is, Usagi always finds it in her heart to forgive. Remember Ann and Ail, they almost killed her yet she still considers them to be very good friends. She took Ryo into her service even though he served Metalia and was one of the warriors responsible for our own deaths.

What you are doing is not going to undo anything that you had done, nor undo what you wanted to do to me. Nor is it going to make anything better. You are just going to hurt Usagi very deeply when she hears that you have given up your powers. That will hurt her far more than even if you had killed me. You know she will just blame herself for your actions.

Furthermore none of us can fill the role you play. Without you, there is no way that Usagi will be able to become the queen and mother that ChibiUsa knows. She needs you, we all need you.

If you want to leave, then I cant return either for I am the root cause of this. If I hadnt made those unwarranted assumptions none of this would have happened. Ami said as she pulled out her own transformation wand and channeled her own energy into it. Let me know what you decide. Ami said while dropping the wand into Reis hand. However, not as trained with the spiritual powers as Rei, she had over exerted the channeling of her power into the wand and had trapped so much of her own essence in the wand that it not only changed to a blue crystal wand but now glowed very brightly and Ami immediately fell to the ground, her body appearing as if it was fading away.

The normally stoic Setsuna cursed under her breath as her keen eyes caught Ami falling to the ground. Surprising the other two girls she broke into a run as her form shifted to that of Sailor Pluto. _ How did I miss that knot in the tapestry? There is no way I should have been blind to one of us completely loosing our Star Seeds. _ Pluto thought to herself as she sprinted the distance, knowing very well that Ami only had minutes at most to live before she was lost forever.

Rei just watched in horror as Ami suddenly collapsed to the ground. Forgetting about the wand that Ami had dropped into her hand, Rei moved quickly to catch the other girl and lowered her to the ground. _ Whats going on, why is her body fading like this? It almost feels like I am holding air. Is this what was going to happen to me? I know that I would die, but like this? _ Rei thought to herself as began to recite prayers to save Amis soul.

Hearing footsteps, Rei looked up and saw Sailor Pluto along with Minako and Makoto arrive. Whats happening to her? Rei asked in between two prayers.

Ami has released her soul and without it her body is fading away. Pluto replied

_ She must have messed up the channeling and caught her own soul in with the planetary power. _ Rei wrongly thought to herself. Is there anything we can do?

We no, but you might still be able to save her. Pluto said.

How? I will do anything. Rei said without hesitation.

Then take up your transformation wand and call back your power. When you do so place Amis wand on her chest and hold it there with your hand. With luck because she gave you her power you will be able to return it to her.

Hai. Rei said as she reached out her arm and snagged her transformation wand from where Ami had dropped it. After transferring it to her other hand she reached behind herself to grab Amis wand her from it had been dropped. Then following Plutos instructions, she placed Amis wand on the girls chest and held her wand high in the air. Mars Power Make-Up! she called.

The blast of energy from her wand almost overwhelmed her senses and the energy she had given up came crashing back into her body. The experience was like nothing that she had felt before and made the sensation of that first henshin seem mild in comparison. As the fires of Mars burned off her civilian clothing and reformed into her Sailor Fuku she felt the fires begin to turn to ice in her left hand where she held Amis transformation wand. Then suddenly her hand felt like it was flash frozen in liquid nitrogen as the power of Mercury awoke and flowed into Ami.

Releasing Amis transformation wand, she pulled back her hand and instantly the cold sensation was gone. Sitting back on her legs she knew that she never wanted to experience the loss of her powers again. They were so much a part of her soul that she was not the same without them. And then to her delight she noticed that Amis body no longer looked like it was on the verge of fading from view and even better Ami began to slowly open her eyes.

Ami-chan youre okay! Rei exclaimed once Ami had fully awoken and pulled the other girl into a big hug.

Well so much for trying to keep a low profile. Minako said quietly to Makoto having taken notice of the fact that they appeared to have everyones attention and quite a few flash bulbs were going off.

Guess we might as well finish off the light show. Makoto replied as she produced her own transformation wand. And after getting an agreeing nod from Minako, the two girls henshin as well.

Dont ever do that again. Rei said to Ami in between the tears she was shedding as she held the other girl.

As long as you agree not to do anything stupid like that either. Ami replied with a smile.

Agreed. I was letting my emotions carry me away again.

I know, I did too. You need to let those emotions out more frequently so that you can control them better. Your over reacting is a result of how you bottle up those emotions. You try to not let out your love for Usagi and as such you loose it when her life is on the line. Ami said moving into her doctor mode.

Hai, Ill try better. Maybe Michiru, Makoto, or even Usagi might be able to help me. Rei agreed.

Ami simply nodded. Come lets go home she said as she stood up and pulled Rei to her feet.

Hai! Rei agreed with a smile.

-End Chapter 32  
  
End Notes: - Well I decided to skip on the promised cameo of Jack Ryan, just couldnt figure out a good way to write it in. I had it thought out in my head about two years ago (has it been that much time, yikes), but unfortunately never scribbled down any notes. As it was I think the cameo would have taken away from that part of the chapter.  
- Well lets see I am only about four months late in getting this chapter out, and I thought I was getting back on top of things. Well what are my excuses, well there were some really good fanfics to read, then there of course is work and life. The light nights at work dont really do it, it is when it is time to right those final reports. When I am doing those, my desire to write is burned out by the time I get home. But that is what I get for being a contract researcher. But I get to play with fun things as well  like writing code to turn digital video into time lapse photographs.  
- The mystery of the time travel from the future should be revealed in two chapters I think. I wonder how many have figured out who Ryos master is. And for those who are wondering while Black Lady will not be making an appearance her evil twin sister will be.  
- Before I leave you all, thought I would leave you with some other good stories to read to keep you happy till the next ice age, since my writing pace seems to have fallen to glacial speed.  
- First there is Sailor Moon V: The Dark Adventures of the Sailor Scouts by Troy Silverton. This fic uses the American dub names, but is very very good, it is also for more mature audiences (though the first installment can be read by all  For the Love of Mercury). Just dont make the mistake I made when I found his website with a couple chapter I hadnt read, make sure you dont read them all at once. One nice thing is that after you get up to date, he often makes small updates one or more times each week to the story.  
- The other fics I have to recommend are actually Ranma 1/2 fics. On you can find Ranma a Different Path Taken by Kayemsi, Nekos Mate by Shall-Iin (a series of loosely related one-shot stories), and the Journey by Druth. and then at Comes the Cold Dragon by Don Granberry (another very good story).  
- Oh and Princess Mononoke is very good movie if you get the chance to rent it.  
- And a reminder to everyone that I have a yahoo groups mailing list that is used exclusively for emailing announcements of the posting of new chapters. Either send an email to: or visit And given how infrequent that is, it is probably quite useful. :)  
-And Thanks to Horosha for pointing out that Rei should be fluent in English even though the anime had her not being (11-7-04)  
  



	33. A Race Through Visions

**The Fragility of Time**  
**BOOK TWO: "Falling Towards Apotheosis"**  
**The Fragility of Time BOOK TWO: "Falling Towards Apotheosis"**  
**Chapter 33: "A Race Through Visions"**  
Author: etj4Eagle  
Email:  
  
Lasted Edited: 11/7/04

Disclaimer: A reminder I own none of the characters of this story, all rights are owned by others. However, the unique circumstances of the story are mine. If you distribute the story, do only so freely and inform me of where you post it.

"Usagi-chan how are you feeling?" Naru asked still worried about her best friend even though Usagi seemed to be moving around fine.

"Better now, I can feel my strength returning."

"So exactly what happened? How did Usagi-hime go from dieing just a moment ago to now being full of energy again?" Haruka asked, with a harsh tone. Her harsh tone was not really directed at Luna, it was just frustration from almost loosing Usagi.

Looking up from where she and Artemis were plugging away at Ami's computer, Luna spoke. "Our original hypothesis as to Usagi's condition proved to be true."

"Guess." Mamoru added quietly to Usagi when she looked confused at Luna's use of the word "hypothesis."

"Ah." Usagi replied. Then thinking about Luna's pending explanation, she knew that she probably would not be able follow it nor was she going to like what she could follow and so she stood up and walk over to where her love was sitting. While her balance was not fully back, she did make it over there without much trouble and for her reward she laid back against Mamoru's chest and began to relax against his warm body.

"However, what we had not expected was how deeply connected Usagi would be to this power nexus here in Tokyo. The four of us had all thought that what Usagi was experiencing at her aunt's was a case of withdrawal symptoms and that the only real effect was an inability to cast any spells. An inability that was caused by nothing more than being away from the source of power that she used for casting those spells. Unfortunately, what we did not realize was that this power nexus is also sustaining Usagi's very life." The state immediately grabbed the attention of everyone present causing them to focus in on her even more.

"Since the battle in the artic, Usagi's body has undergone many changes. One result is that not only is she not human, she is not quite Lunarian anymore either. She is now a magical creature in much the way unicorns, when they existed, were and Sailor Senshi are. A natural consequence of her transformation is a need to nourish her soul with more energy. Unfortunately for Usagi her body can't yet supply sufficient nourishment. As long as she stays herein Tokyo with its power nexus she is fine. But..."Luna did not need to finish that statement as they all got the meaning.

Moving on past Usagi almost dieing, Luna continued. "While Ami some time back stated that Usagi is not a Sailor Senshi, I now believe that she is only half right." Luna explained

"Nani-ka." came the startled response from all present even Artemis, who even though he was looking at the same data had not made the connection that Luna had made.

"Ami based her declaration on the fact that Usagi and ChibiUsa are not connected to a planet like the rest of you, and that does include you Mamoru-san – you are connected to the Earth. And at least initially, Usagi didn't have any strength outside of what the spell she unknowingly cast when she used her transformation broach gave her. However, now she is a magical being and like you she has enhanced constitutions and physical abilities. The only difference is that she doesn't have a heavenly body providing the extra nourishment her soul needs. And to be able to use her Eternal Tier in the future she'll need a connection to a heavenly body.

Those of the group who were still standing, decided to finally take a seat so that they could digest Luna's explanation. For Naru it was a near lost cause – not having been present for the other theoretical discussions on the girl's powers. Ryo, for his part, was making sure to memorize all that Luna had said and was trying to think of any question that Ami might have asked, knowing that she would be very disappointed to hear that she had missed this discussion.

"So that must be what Pu meant when she said that mamma was coming into her powers." ChibiUsa finally said breaking the silence that had descended on the group.

"Hai, at some point in the distant future a new Sailor Senshi must awaken, but for which planet I have no idea." Luna agreed.

"Maybe not a planet, but a star – Sailor Sun?" Urawa asked.

Luna dismissed that idea immediately with a shake of her head. "No, I had already thought about that, but for some reason it just doesn't seem right. I just wish I could remember why I know that that shouldn't be the case."

Everyone just sat there for a few minutes thinking over what else she could be a Sailor Senshi of, not that knowing the answer would make one ounce of difference with the current problem. A few minutes later another related question entered Urawa's mind. "What about ChibiUsa. Will this transformation of Usagi have any effect on her?"

"But I was fine at Auntie Misaki's place." ChibiUsa replied both hoping that she could be a real Sailor Senshi, learning that Sailor Moon was only a fake Sailor Senshi had been a big blow to the little girl's ego – though she had hidden it from everyone else, and at the same time hoping that it wasn't the case as she was scared of going through what her mother was currently going through.

"As you should have been." Artemis replied "Your Sailor powers are not hereditary. When you die the next female child within the realm of your planet is imbued with the soul of a Sailor Senshi. Your long lives would pose problems if your powers were hereditary, as we could very easily end up with a half dozen or more Sailor Venus's." The dig at his charge at the end was in response to the last bath that she had given him.

"But then why is ChibiUsa Sailor Moon?" Michiru asked.

"Because Sailor Moon is not a real Sailor Senshi, and the power of the Moon is hereditary." Luna replied

"Ah that makes sense." Michiru said, realizing that if she had thought about her question for a moment before asking she would have seen the answer herself.

_ Guess that makes up for Sailor Moon being just a fake Sailor. At least this way I can still be one of them. _ ChibiUsa thought to herself more happy with situation now.

Having had enough theory on Sailor power for one night, Haruka decide it was time to head home. The others probably would not be returning for many hours and she wanted to be snuggled in bed with Michiru long before then. "As much as I would like to continue this discussion on the theory behind our powers, I think it is time for me to give everyone a lift home. I'm awake now, but I don't know how much longer that will last."

"Hai that is a good idea." Luna agreed

* * *

As the warm rays of the early morning sun began to shine on her body, Ami slowly began to drift back from the depths of sleep. For the moment she was content to linger in that warm safe state that existed in the transition between sleep and awake. This morning she was more content than normal to lay like this, she had no desire to finish waking up and to begin her morning studying. Subconsciously noting movement beside herself, Ami whimpered slightly and wrapped her arms more tightly against the one she was laying next to, pulling that body in tighter.

Her companion smiled contently at Ami's attempts to keep her from getting up. Giving into what Ami desired, she tightened her hold on the other girl and laid her head against Ami's chest. As she lay there, she realized that her soul had never been more at peace than it was now – not even being held by Usagi had the same effect. Rei did not know why that was, but she was sure that Usagi would know. Usagi instinctively knew everything about the heart.

Adjusting her position so that she could look up into Ami's face, Rei watched as the other girl slept. Ami had such an innocent and serene expression on her face and the dawn sun framed her body just right. Rei just watched Ami's face as she slept for a few minutes before snuggling in close to the other girl and thinking about last night.

After they had returned from America, Ami had stayed behind at the shrine as the other three left. The two girls had stared awkwardly at each other for many minutes before Rei had finally spoken. "Ami-chan if it is not too much trouble could you spend the night here, I don't think I want to be left alone tonight." Of course Rei did have Yuuichirou and her Grandpa there as well, Ami knew that Rei meant she wanted someone there who knew the demons that Rei was facing. Furthermore Ami for the very same reason did not want to be alone that night either. And so the two girls had retired to Rei's room after Ami had called home to tell her mother that she would be spending that night at Rei's.

Rei had rummaged through her closet to find some sleeping clothes that to a degree fitted Ami, while the other girl bathed. Then while Ami changed, Rei had gone to soak in the furo herself. Neither of them had taken long soaks in the furo – not believing that they deserved the warmth and relaxation it offered. When Rei returned to her room, the two girls had gone about setting a pair of futons down on the floor and had drifted off to sleep. However sometime during the night they had drifted from their original sleeping positions and Rei had ended up wrapped up in Ami's arms as the other girl had curled around her. The position was quite an intimate one, yet at the same time Rei knew that there were no such overtones with it and that it instead was another step in their healing and indication of the full forgiveness both ways.

Craning her neck up, Rei placed a light kiss on Ami's right cheek before pushing herself up from the futon. Again Ami gave a whimper of displeasure at having to let go of Rei, however this time Rei did not give in and continued pushing away from Ami's body. After realizing that she was not going to win, Ami's let go of Rei and opened her eyes. Looking down into those blue eyes as she knelt beside the smaller girl, Rei smiled.

"Go back to sleep some more Ami-chan. I normally get up at this hour for my chore, but there is no reason why you should as well. Now sleep some more." Rei said in a gentle voice as she lightly grasped one of Ami's hands. Then leaning down, she kissed Ami on her forehead before standing and heading towards her dresser.

Feeling the kiss on her forehead, Ami closed her and pulled the covers in closer around her body and tried to drift back off to sleep. She lay there for quite a while feeling very content and relaxed. But sleep did not return to her, stretching and yawning she decided that it was time to get up. As she got up she said a silent prayer of thanks to Kami-sama for this night of healing.

* * *

Barely able to sleep the night before, Ryo was up as the sun's rays just began to crest the horizon. Dressing and eating a light breakfast he left his parents a note on the table before he quietly left the house. Walking down the street his mind continued to puzzle over the strange visions he had received the previous night. As he had thought, one of the first visions had been a vision of the vision he received during the teleport attempt to America. He shook his head at that thought, _ who would ever have thought of the idea of having a vision of a vision you are going to have. Talk about meaning being hidden. _

He was sure as to the meaning of the final vision – a warning of a pending battle between the Sailor Senshi and their enemy and that this Rubeus character had an ace up his sleeve. He did not know what this ace was and just hoped that Rei would be able to decipher it, as he also had a very bad feeling that they did not have much time, maybe only a few days before Rubeus made his move. The other vision he still was not able to make heads or tails of. It sounded like one Rei's visions that Ami had described to him, yet he was not sure what it meant. But he also knew that it was vitally important that they unravel its meaning.

Walking up the steps of the Hikawa shrine, Ryo had not once given thought to the early hour or the likelihood that Rei might still be in bed asleep – most of the city still was. Cresting the top of the stairs he saw Grandpa Hino sweeping out the main courtyard.

"Hello" Grandpa Hino called out as he saw Ami's friend come into view. "What brings you to our humble shrine so early in the morning?"

Ryo did not know how to respond to Grandpa Hino's question, for anything he said he feared would give away too much.

"I can see that something is troubling you my boy." Grandpa Hino said for Ryo.

"Hai." Ryo replied.

"You probably don't want to discuss the worries of a young man's heart to an old fool like me. Rei should be in the fire room tending to the sacred fire."

"Arigato" Ryo said before heading off that way.

Hino watched as the young boy headed to meet with his granddaughter. While he had implied that Ryo's problem was that of his love life with Mizuno Ami, the old priest knew better. A great burden rested on the shoulders of that young man. Though the priest also knew that young was not really an adapt description of Ryo, there was a very ancient aspect to that boy. His granddaughter had sure found an interesting array of friends. He had known that there was something special about his granddaughter from when he had first seen her, just minutes after her birth. He had immediately taken to training her in the use of her spiritual powers when she was of age– a training that became more extensive following the death of her mother.

And then a few months ago, she had been befriended by that other enigma, Tsukino Usagi and her friend Ami. While he had no idea what the future held for Usagi, he knew she was destined to play a pivotal role in the future of the world. Since her arrival in their lives, his meditations more often than not focused around her being a nexus.

At times he wondered what his daughter had become involved in. He knew that something was going on with those girls and it was directly connected to the future the world was going to take in the next few years. Each day he could sense that their fates and the fate of the world itself lay in the same line. He wished that he could provide them with his own wisdom, but that was not what the Kami had in mind. Instead he was relegated to sitting on the sideline and silently watching events on fold. Oh he could easily go visit Usagi and ask her to let him walk the path and he knew she would not hesitate to accept him. But he also knew that was not the right approach to take, instead it was time for the torch of this shrine to be passed onto Rei. Her skills with the Sacred Fire had surpassed his a long time ago and she was quickly gaining the wisdom needed to provide guidance to those who needed it. The only hurdle left in ascension to become the rightful priestess of this shrine was her temper. But even that hurdle had nearly been crossed, as he saw this morning and last night.

He did not know what had happened between Ami and his granddaughter. But he had silently watched from the shadows as the two of them had stood in the courtyard last night, guilt on both their faces. He had known instantly that Rei had lost control of her temper. But for the first time he could see in his granddaughter's face the realization that her temper was a liability. He had only hoped that night that she would be able to conquer that demon. But this morning when he had peaked in on the two girls after getting up an hour before sunrise he had smiled as he realized that he did not need to worry. The sight of the two girls wrapped up in each others arms and legs, lying chest to chest on their sides had told him all that he needed to know.

Looking out at the morning sky and the rising sun, Grandpa Hino thought of what needed to be done next. Even though Rei was just fourteen years of age, it was time for the torch to be passed on. She already in many ways ran much of the shrine and she was the one that visitors often came to see. This trial that Rei now faced would be the test that would determine if she was worthy of taking the shrine. There was no doubt in his mind that she would pass the test, she had strong friends that were part of the quest and Usagi of course would make sure that Rei triumphed. And so it was time for him to take begin making preparations. Her fifteenth birthday would be the perfect time to present her with the spoils of her quest.

* * *

Walking into the room which housed the Sacred Flame, Ryo found Rei seated before it slowly stroking its embers as she fed it new wood. Hearing the light foot steps of someone other than her grandfather or Youricho, Rei at first thought that it was Ami. She was about to chastise the other girl for getting out of bed and to tell her to go back to sleep, but the shiver that passed through her body told her that it was not her. "Ryo-kun what brings you here this morning?" For a moment she feared that he had heard what she almost did to Ami and was not going to be as forgiving.

"Rei, following both of the teleports yesterday I had visions – visions which I need your help deciphering. I don't know why, but something tells me that we only have a few days at most to decipher them before the events they foretell will come to pass."

Turning 180° around, Rei gestured for Ryo to take a seat in front of her. "Tell me about these visions. The fire this morning has been restless."

"Following your first teleport attempt I had two visions." Ryo said, deciding to leave out the vision that was simply the warning of "Do Not Touch." "In one of them, I saw the Ginzuishou being used in a battle against some powerful force. As the two energies pushed against each other cracks began to appear in the crystal and with each passing moment they became larger and more numerous. Eventually the crystal simply shattered into a million fragments and was swept away by the opposing force."

Rei took a few moments to think about this vision and whether it related to her visions. "While I have had a series of visions that did involve shattering centered around Usagi, I don't think it is related in anyway to that vision of yours. This is not a good sign as it appears to suggest that the enemy that we face is going to be too powerful for Usagi. Though at the same time she is stronger now than when she fought the Dark Moon in ChibiUsa's original timeline, which is not in accordance with your vision." Pausing for a moment to collect her thoughts, Rei continued. "I fear this must mean that we are facing another threat, one which has yet to reveal itself and is likely associated with the hunting for certain pure heart crystals. ChibiUsa does not remember anything like that from before. The Sacred Fire has yet to reveal anything to me with regards to this new element of the threat, but maybe with your vision as a basis I will be able to see something. You said there was second vision?"

"Hai, the second vision I got was of a map of the Tokyo with various points of lights glowing. This vision I believe is connected to the vision I got after Usagi returned the second time." Ryo then proceeded to best describe the various out of place elements of that vision. If he hadn't been so sure that it was indeed a vision, he probably would have just assumed he had dreamed those scenes. "… the one thing I am sure of is that Usagi will die when that battle comes to pass unless we uncover Rubeus's trump card and we only have a few days at most before he will make his move."

Rei just stared dumbstruck at Ryo as he finished his description suddenly feeling the weight of the world on her shoulders and having no clue as to how to go about saving her love's life. Love, Rei had never really thought about Usagi that way before, but she knew as soon as she thought the word that it was the right word. It wasn't a romantic love, but she also wouldn't be adverse to switching bodies with Mamoru so that it could come to include the romantic element as well. Part of her mind wandered if she would ever be able to find someone to love romantically or if her love for Usagi would force her to walk a path of solitude – not that she would mine, just being able to feel Usagi return a fraction of the love she held for that silver haired girl would be enough for her.

Feeling a soft touch on her shoulder, Rei looked up and into the eyes of Ami. Seeing the question in Rei's face, Ami answered it. "I couldn't sleep anymore. Thanks for letting me stay last night, I don't think I have ever felt so rested." Rei knew that Ami was not referring to being just physically rested but spiritually rested as well. "Morning Ryo-kun. I guess from what you have been telling Rei that you did not sleep as peacefully as we did last night."

"Iie, unfortunately not. The visions I had yesterday kept me from sleeping last night. I did not share them with you last night as I knew there was not much anyone could do without some sleep first and I did not want anyone else to have to shoulder the burden of the visions instead of getting all the rest they could for I am sure that we are all going to need it." Ryo said before repeating the elements of the vision that Ami had missed.

As he spoke, Ami, who was dressed in a miko outfit sat down beside Rei and leaned in against the other girl. Rei instinctively wrapped an arm around her as the two sat and all three pondered Ryo's last vision. Ryo felt a bit jealous of Rei as he saw how she was holding Ami, but the ancient part of his soul warned his younger self to ignore what he saw. The ancient self did not know what had transpired between the two, but knew that the tenderness they were showing was not of something to be jealous of, but was instead the love resulting from reconciliation. That part of his soul chuckled to itself realizing that this world did not seem to accept this most effective method of reconciliation, instead attaching unwarranted innuendos to it instead.

Some time later Ami spoke, "From what ChibiUsa has told us, Rubeus is an enemy from the 30th century who has come back in time here to the past to disrupt the correct flow of time. Apparently he has or had a spaceship that allowed him to travel in time without using the Gate of Spacetime. I say had, as it is possible that the disruption which sent ChibiUsa back here may have destroyed his ship or more likely picked him off the ship and deposited him back here. If we're lucky the time disruption destroyed the enemy's ability to travel through time. If not, based on what ChibiUsa has told us of the original timeline, Rubeus may have reinforcements arriving soon.

"From your vision, Ryo-kun it looks like Rubeus still has the ability to effect time. Whether or not he still retains the ability to time travel, it looks like he does have the ability to cause items from the past and future to converge on the present. Which while much better than the danger we would face if he could apply the effects directly to ourselves..." Ami said thinking back to one of the battles when it was just her and Usagi and they came across that Youma who could make them younger or older at will. "it still poses a significant threat, as items brought across time can be dangerous in themselves."

"Setsuna is not going to like this development." Rei said stating the obvious.

"Hai" the other two agreed.

"Ryo-san could you give the Tsukino household a call and ask them to send ChibiUsa over here?" Rei asked. "I think ChibiUsa might hold the key to unlocking the other element of this second vision of yours, there is something I vaguely remember her mentioning that I want her to describe again and in full detail."

"Hai," replied Ryo. "Though you know it is going to be very hard to get her moving, it is after all before 7."

"I know." Rei said as Ami smirked. "But it is very important and can't wait, tell whoever answers the phone to tell her that it has to deal with her mother's wellbeing."

"Hai." Ryo said as he turned and left the room, knowing that that bait was sure to get ChibiUsa moving instantly no matter how much she might want to stay in bed and sleep some more.

As Ryo left the room, Rei released her arm from around Ami so that she could turn to face the Sacred Fire again. "Come its time that we did some fire readings on Ryo's visions. If we are lucky we might be able to see something that will help us decipher them by the time ChibiUsa gets here and provides us with some more pieces to the puzzle."

"Are you sure you that want me to stay here while you do that. I don't know how much help I can be." Ami said with a tone full of her lack of confidence.

"Hai of course I want you here." Rei said as she reached an arm around Ami's shoulder and pulled her in close. _ I have really shattered her confidence with my stunt yesterday. Her guilt may be mostly be healed, but her confidence is going to take longer to heal. And this is one task that I have to do myself. No matter how much she would like to help, Usagi won't be able to repair the damage that I have done. Only with my approval can Ami regain what I have destroyed. _ "Here let me show you how to call upon the power of the fire yourself." Rei said as she began to instruct her first student.

* * *

An hour later Grandpa Hino looked up from his morning cup of tea as he heard the footsteps of some more morning visitors. Walking outside he saw that it was Usagi's mother and her younger cousin. "Good morning Tsukino-san what has you up so early this Saturday morning?" he asked.

"Morning Hino-san. Ryo-san gave ChibiUsa a call this morning asking her to come here, something to do about Usagi. Given the early hour, I decided it best to bring her here myself."

Seeing Ryo walk up to them, Grandpa Hino said to ChibiUsa, "Well it looks like Ryo is here for you." And then turning speaking to Ikuko he continued, "While the children occupy themselves, why don't you join me for a cup of tea."

"Hai that sounds like a good idea."

While the two of them headed off to the living quarters, Ryo walked over to the shrine building with ChibiUsa in tow. Walking into the shrine he was surprised by what he saw. Instead of Rei kneeling before the fire chanting it was his girlfriend. Rei was still there of course, but off to the side watching Ami. Rei looked up as Ryo and ChibiUsa came in and gestured for them to take a seat behind Ami. The two of them took a seat as directed and watched on as Ami continued her meditations. Sometime later Ami finished her chanting and broke her gaze on the fire and became aware of the others in the room.

Getting up from where she had been sitting, Rei walked over towards where Ami was kneeling. "How did your meditations go?" Rei asked.

"I'm not sure." Ami replied "I didn't really see anything just have some feelings that I am not sure about."

"Ami you did quite good for your first time. It took me many tries before I was able to sense anything from the Sacred Fire. Most people never get more than feelings from the fire. My connection to Mars allows me to see as well as I do." Rei said as she gave Ami a gentle pat on her back.

"So why am I up?" ChibiUsa asked finding it hard to remain awake.

"Ryo-kun tell ChibiUsa about the map you saw in your vision." Ami said.

"Hai." Ryo replied before turning to ChibiUsa and continuing. "ChibiUsa in my vision I see a may of Tokyo with various points glowing with energy. I can't remember the arrangement of the symbols, but I believe I saw both a pentacle and a hexagon in the arrangement. The points glowed with white energy arcing up into the sky as pillars."

"The Crystal Points." ChibiUsa said silently in recognition.

"What was that?" Ami asked

"The Crystal Points are what power the magic of the Crystal Palace. Rubeus came here to the past to capture them so that the shield protecting the palace would be removed." ChibiUsa explained what little she had been able to understand from her conversations with Mars, Mercury, and her parents regarding them.

"That makes sense." Ami said starting to put the pieces of the puzzle together. "The Crystal Points must make up the individual points of the manna nexus that is giving Usagi all of her powers. In the original timeline, we must have harnessed this power in building the palace and used it to augment its defenses."

"And as Usagi can't live without the supplemental energy she draws from Tokyo…" Ryo said making the connection with Luna's assessment of Usagi's condition last night.

"Which means if Rubeus can corrupt that energy into the dark energy of the Nemesis he will rob Usagi of the extra energy that she needed to live." Ami said finishing Ryo's statement.

"Wait but we have beat every attempt Rubeus has made to install those corrupting energy collectors." Rei said.

The four lapsed into silence while they thought over that, it was Ami who broke the silence. "That is what the Fire was telling me." she said, then as the others looked at her she continued, "It was giving a sense of deception. Those attempts to collect energy and pollute the local energy pool were just decoys. He must have used them to disguise his placement of a real energy collector, ones that he is just waiting for the right moment to activate."

"Are you sure Ami-chan?" Rei asked, Ami's analysis was mostly based on conjuncture after all.

"Hai, I am. Come one of the battle sites is close by here. We can go search it and see if we can detect anything."

* * *

As the group raced down the city streets, Rei had a moment to wonder why her grandpa did not see the need to ask them any questions as to why they were heading out to do something so early in the morning and what it had to do with ChibiUsa. She had expected him to make some kind of comment, as it was not exactly normal to call up the Tsukino household and have Ikuko bring over ChibiUsa early on a Saturday morning so that they could then go run out into the city. But yet he just nodded his head with some sort of knowing look on his face. Rei just hoped he hadn't figured out their secret, but he hadn't acted this way before today. _ Well I guess I will just have to wait for him to explain himself. Knowing him he won't be able to keep whatever it is that he knows from me for long. _

The few pedestrians they passed on the road at that time in the morning probably wondered what they were feeding junior high school kids these days. Though none of the three realized it, each were running far faster than a normal human being could. Rei and Ami were running with the enhanced speed that being a Sailor Senshi afforded them, speed which was normally restrained by their civilian glamor magic. ChibiUsa herself was not running as she would not have been able to keep up with the other three, instead Ryo was carrying her. Of course one would have to either very sophisticate sensors or a sense of the supernatural to know that, as Ryo had reverted to his other self to gain its enhanced speed and endurance and hence neither he nor ChibiUsa were visible. Unlike the girls, his human form was completely normal.

Before long, the group arrived at the construction site, which had been set up near what had once been a park. A park that three demons turned into had turned into a war zone and where people had died, not just been drained of their energy. And then not too long ago, Rubeus had unleashed one of his own demons there. None of them had been very happy having to fight a battle there with the memory of those who did not survive the first battle. And now it appeared that Rubeus was even crueler and was disgracing those who had lost there lives a second time.

Jumping over the fence and into the construction site proper, the three girls henshin while Ryo returned to his human form. Once in their Sailor forms, Mercury and Mars began searching the grounds for a hidden demon. Initially Mercury tried searching the same location where they had found the cracked crystal that the previous demon had been using to collect energy, but found no trace of a hidden demon. From there she began searching an ever larger area.

However, after fifteen minutes she still had not found anything. "I don't understand it. I am sure there should be something here, yet I can't find anything with my computer."

Rei was also feeling frustrated over having not found the demon, however instead of letting her frustration get the best of her she tried to comfort Ami, "You're right Ami-chan, I'm sure there is something here as well. I am getting a general sense of something not being right. Remember the Sacred Fire does not lie to you; you have to trust its guidance. As long as you listen to the guidance with an open and true heart, your interpretation will always lead you to the truth."

"Arigato Rei-chan," Ami replied, thankful for the little pep talk.

Unfortunately a pep talk was not an answer and Ami was soon finding her patience straining again. _ Where is that demon? It has to be here some where. _ Sensing that his girlfriend was beginning to let the unsolvable problem get to her, Ryo came up beside her and wrapped an arm around her waist. The one thing that could cut through Ami's gentle demeanor was a problem that she could not solve, so used she was to being able to solve anything.

"Have faith Ami-chan, I know you'll solve this." Ryo softly said to her.

Ami smiled and felt herself blushing a bit, but then refocused herself on her task. _ I'm just not getting anywhere. There has to be a better way to do this. But what is it? _ As she tried to think of a better way, Ami stopped searching for the moment, letting her computer drop. _ First things first, I need to regain my focus so that I can concentrate and think straight again. _ And with that thought, Ami closed her eyes and began to try some of the meditation exercises that Rei had taught her earlier that morning in preparation to for seeking the Fire's guidance.

As she repeated the exercises, she felt the world around her body disappear, all except for Ryo who she felt close at hand, his strength giving her guidance. So oblivious she was becoming to the outside world, she did not notice when she dropped her computer. No one else seemed to notice either for it just flickered out of existence as it fell to the ground. Instead, the others had their attention drawn to the faint pale blue glow that began to be emitted from within Ami's body. Ryo and ChibiMoon had no idea what to make of it, however somehow they knew that they should not interfere. Mars could feel the spiritual power that was present in the aura that Mercury was emitting, but she had no better idea as to why Ami was emitting it.

As Ami finished her meditations, she opened her eyes to find herself floating in a pool of pristine spring water. She knew instinctively that the water that surrounded her was absolutely pure water, for that was the focus of her powers – fresh water. A distant part of her mind was still routed in reality and sent up a warning flag over the absolutely pure water, but she also knew that as it was her element it could not harm her.

Ami remained floating in the body of pure water for many moments just enjoying the feeling of it as it caressed across her body. However, slowly bit by bit she started to become more aware of her surroundings. The first thing she felt was a strong power pulsing from within her body. _ That must be my connection to Mercury _ She thought. Letting her hand drift into her chest, she grabbed a hold of that power and brought it out. Looking down, Ami saw a blue glowing sphere of energy with some kind of harp contained within it. While she was not one with much musical talent, she suddenly had a desire to play that harp and she wondered if it would be possible to remove it from the sphere.

However, she did not get long to ponder how she could extract the harp from her source of power without disrupting it when she felt something else that grabbed her attention. Somewhere off in the distance she felt a darkness, something that did not belong in the water. Reaching out her right hand, she closed it around some of the water and as she thought about this foreign pollutant in her pristine water, she realized that the source of the pollutant was 15 degrees off to her left. Focusing down that direction she could now see the increasing gradient of pollutant. _ Now I've got you. _She thought to herself with a smile as her world suddenly snapped back to reality. Not showing the usual disorientation that is associated with transiting from the mind's world to the real world, Mercury took a step forward.

"Find something Mercury-chan?" Mars asked.

"Hai, the demon is over this way." Mercury replied as she once again summoned her computer and began scanning as she walked. A minute later the group was standing over a tree a block away from where the previous demon attack had occurred.

"Well now that we have found it what should we do?" Ryo asked.

"First we need to check all of the other sites and find the other hidden demons. Now that I know what I am looking for, I have configured my scanner and the others should be much easier to find." Mercury said.

"We're not going to destroy this one?" ChibiMoon asked.

"Iie, not yet. We don't know what kind of fail safes Rubeus has built in. If we destroy one, we might end up activating the rest of the network. In that case Rubeus will still win. No, what we need to do is take down the whole network at once. But before we do that we have to find the other demons." Mercury explained.

"Hai I guess that makes sense." Mars replied. And with that the foursome began their investigation of all the recent demon attacks.

* * *

A few hours later the group finished revisiting every demon battle since ChibiUsa had shown up. As Ami had feared, they had found a hidden demon at every battle, which had involved energy collection since Rubeus and Kaolinite began acting up. They had investigated every demon attack since ChibiUsa's arrival, but thankfully only the the smaller subset of attacks had the hidden demons. Once they had completed their investigation they had called up the others and told them to come the shrine.

Even though it was still relatively early in the morning and some had to be woken up, the others quickly arrived at the shrine. Just like with ChibiUsa, telling that the meeting was a matter of life or death for Usagi instantly brought them to full alertness and motivated them to quickly come over.

"What is it Ami-chan? I thought we all ready knew the cause of Usagi's illness conclusively now." Haruka asked, once everyone had arrived and taken a seat. While the winds whispered to her that there was something more, she tried to cling to the hope that this was nothing more than Ami puzzling out what Luna had explained to the smaller group last night.

"Yes that is true, which is why the vision that Ryo-kun explained to me and Rei this morning is so troubling. As a result of her transformation, Usagi is no longer able to live without the supplemental energy provided by the energy nexus that is centered here in Tokyo. It would appear that Rubeus also knows this and is planning on using this against Usagi."

"How?" Luna asked.

"Those energy collecting attacks over the past weeks were actually decoys for his real agenda. Along with the demons we fought off, Rubeus was placing a second dormant energy collector nearby to each of those battle sites. Based on Ryo's vision he is going to activate them all at once sometime in the next couple of days." _ After a really strange battle. _ Ami thought to herself.

"And when the nexus's energy is suddenly contaminated with the energy of Nemesis and diverted away, the effect will be the same as when you teleported to America. Except this time you won't have the option of teleporting back." Setsuna stated, gravely worried about this turn of events, very glad now that she had not seen an inkling of the danger posed by that teleport to America.

"Hai. If we don't destroy these energy collectors before Rubeus activates them, then Usagi is dead." Ami stated, while turning to look at Usagi with an apologetic look. "Gomen nasai Usagi-hime." Ami said softly to Usagi.

The others except for Rei, ChibiUsa, and Ryo all stared at her in shock and then turned to look at Usagi unsure of what to say or do.

Usagi was not doing much better herself. She was feeling the same jitters that she had felt the first time she had become Sailor Moon and fought her first demon and then later when she faced off solo against Jadeite. It was the jitters that came with knowing that you were about to die and at the same time not having a strong desire pushing you to be willing to make that ultimate sacrifice with no regrets. "But now… that you know… you can… you can prevent it… can't you?" Usagi asked in an uncertain tone.

"Hai, I think we can." Ami replied as Rei moved up beside Usagi who was now leaning back in Mamoru's arms and placing a comforting arm on the silver haired girl's shoulder. "The four of us have located each of these hidden energy collectors. All we need to do is go and take them out."

"Then lets go smash them." Makoto said standing up while summoning her transformation wand.

"Iie, not yet." Minako replied.

"And why not?" Haruka asked, not happy with being told to wait. She also was all up for following Makoto on out and doing a little urban renewal at select locations.

"Rubeus if he was smart would have these tied together so that if we take out one a fail safe will activate the others. We need to try to take out as many as possible at once. Ami-chan how many did you say there were." Minako explained.

"Seven."

"In that case we will break into teams of two. Makoto and I will be one team, Haruka and Michiru will of course be one other, Setsuna and Ami will be the third and I want Rei, Usagi, ChibiUsa, Urawa and Mamoru to be the fourth team." The others all looked at her with questioning looks when she listed the final team, which was definitely not a twosome and furthermore included Usagi. Given that they were racing to save Usagi's life, the others had each just assumed that she would remain behind. Seeing the questioning looks on the faces of the others, Minako elaborated on her final team assignment. "The best place for Usagi if something should go wrong would be at one of these nexus points, as the energy she needs to live should be strongest there and hopefully it will be enough to keep her alive should something go wrong. And I am sure Rei and Urawa will be able to handle any trap that might be there.

"I guess that does make sense." Rei muttered not quite happy about having Usagi in a possible battle situation given her condition, but also at the same time glad that she would be by the side of the silver haired girl the entire time.

_ Well at least when it counts it seems she is running on all cylinders. _ Haruka thought, not having been overly impressed with Minako's mental state previously given her tendency to be a blond ditz. Though Haruka would have agreed that Minako did at least have a good battle sense and it was more of everyday situations that were an issue with regard to her mental capacity.

Of course Artemis and Setsuna had expected Minako to come up with a well thought out plan like this on the fly. For Artemis it was because of his experience with her as Sailor V, when she didn't have the luxury of relaxing for even just a moment. In Setsuna's case, it was because of her knowledge of how Venus was back during the days of the Moon Kingdom and the various military strategies that Venus would come up with. During those days one of her favorite past times was to watch the young Sailor Venus engage Mercury in a game of wits with a very complex military strategy game in which the two were experts. Of course she was probably one of the few people who could describe those matches as fun to watch as both players would sometimes spend a week or more planning their next move, but then when you live for eternity that does not seem like a long time.

And one nice thing that Pluto had discovered to her liking was that each time through the timeline the strategy the two used would differ slightly resulting in very different games. Pluto still had not been able to fathom how the strategy that the two women used in those games would be so sensitive to the minute fluctuations in the time stream from timeline to timeline, more so than anything else. In many ways the game was a reverse butterfly effect. Thinking back to the match the two had finished this time just days before the fall of the Moon Kingdom, Pluto remembered a gambit that Venus had undertaken, a gambit that that was utterly different from anything she had done in any previous timeline. Pluto had seen what Venus was trying to achieve with that gambit and it was a risky move for a moderate payoff. However when all was said and resolved, Mercury found her forces completely devastated and was forced to resign two turns later. That was the first time that particular match had ever been completed, normally the two players were in a dead heat during the fall or occasionally Mercury was in a position of strength. But never did Venus ever hold any real position of strength. Thinking back over that game, Pluto now realized that she should have seen the omen for what it was – a sever disturbance in the timeline, the one that she was now trying to smooth out.

"Well then let's get going." Makoto exclaimed moments before her henshin into Sailor Jupiter, breaking Setsuna out of her thoughts. Seeing the other soldiers had already summoned their powers, Setsuna did the same and joined them in the race across town.

* * *

Walking over to the oven, Sakai took a tray of cookies out of the oven. Putting it down on the counter to cool he glanced up at the clock. Still plenty of time to finish the rush job on the morning's expedited special order. Heading over to the cupboards, he took a couple of blocks of chocolate out of them and returned to his working area. Lighting the stove he placed the two blocks into a pot, planning on melting them together to get the right mixture of sweetness for his creation.

Once the chocolate reached the right consistency he took the pot of the flame, bringing to the work area. Picking up a wooden spoon he began ladling the melted chocolate over his creation. With the first layer on, he returned the pot to the stove. Then went over to a small fridge to remove a tray of fruit he had chopped up earlier. Taking the tray over to the counter, he began placing the fruit in the still soft chocolate.

Just as he was placing the last strawberry, he heard the door to his shop open. He wondered what this customer had come to buy, as he did whenever a customer came in. But he rarely got to meet them, as he was normally back here preparing custom orders during the day. Not that he minded too much, creating these deserts was his heart's desire, he just wished there was also time to meet with the customers more.

This time was to be different though, as this latest customer was apparently causing some kind of commotion amongst the others currently in his bakery. Deciding to see what the commotion was about, Sakai turned off the heat on the stove and left the kitchen. What he saw caused him to stop in his tracks, there in his bakery were two of those Sailor Senshi. He had seen them on TV and had a police report that describe an incident that occurred at this bakery shortly after his opening, though he had no memories of anything that happened that afternoon (though, the wall that had to be replaced did prove that something had happened). Seeing that his counter clerks were too stunned to do anything, Sakai walked out into the lobby area of his bakery and approached the two girls.

"I am Sakai Hiroyuki the owner of this bakery, may I be of assistance to your?"

"I'm Sailor Jupiter and this is Sailor Venus." The warrior outfitted in green said. "We recently discovered that the enemy who attacked your bakery a while back left a booby trap in the area. Once the rest of our teammates are in position we will take it out. Hopefully it won't cause any more trouble for you."

Sakai did not want a second demon event at his bakery, knowing something like that would be certain to gives his bakery a haunted reputation. "Of course take your time and let me take this opportunity to formally give you my thanks for taking care of that demon attack." Sakai said while bowing deeply to both Sailor Jupiter and Sailor Venus.

"You're welcome Sakai-san; Sailor Jupiter is a bit of a chef of her own and under no circumstances would she allow anyone to defile a wonderful bakery such as yours." Venus said causing both Jupiter and Sakai to blush slightly.

"You know I never got a chance to try any of your work after that incident. I had been meaning to come in here before that day." Jupiter said as she produced some bills, deciding that a snack would be a good way to wait while they waited for every one else to be in position.

"Then let me get you some on the house." Sakai said as he swept behind the counter. "It is the least I can do after what you two have done for me."

"Arigatoo," Jupiter said as she accepted a couple of cookies and some slices of bread. Satisfied that they had explained their presence to the last of the shop owners (the two wanted to reduce, even if just slightly, the chance of pandemonium erupting), the two headed back outside. Leaning up against the side of the store front, the two soldiers decided to pass the time by partaking in their bounty.

Six minutes later the final "all set" message came over their communicators. And of course it was sent by Sailor Moon's group.

"Minna-chan, I have just set my computer to emit a beep in 2 minutes. When it does, I want everyone to attack the droid crystal with their strongest attack. Sailor Moon you probably should start casting your spell now."

"Hai", came the response from all but Sailor Moon who was in the process of using her scepter.

For Jupiter and Venus, the two of them took up positions on either side of the large "X" that Mercury had drawn over the hidden droid crystal earlier and began to let the power of their planets flow into their bodies. In what seemed far less than two minutes, the high pitched squeal of Mercury's computer came across their links and the two warriors unleashed their attacks. For Venus it was a Crescent Beam, which she put all that she had into. For Jupiter her attack was her Thunder Dragon, which roared as it took form. Eying Venus's Crescent Beam, it flapped it wings hard and soared over the target to grasp a hold of that energy beam with its claws, somehow managing to hold onto it as if it were a solid spear. Then with another mighty flap of its wings, it arced around so that it was once again facing the ground. Then with a powerful swoosh of its wings, it pulled them in tight and dived to the ground as the Crescent Beam glowed with energy before dissolving away to become one with the electricity that made up the Thunder Dragon. The now golden-blue dragon continued its dive on through pavement, not stopping till it reached the demon energy and when it did the energy of the dragon detonated.

To Jupiter and Venus there was but a couple of seconds when their attacks appeared to have done nothing before a shock wave erupted from under the pavement. Blown backwards the two landed hard on the ground and were pelted by debris. Both soldiers just laid on the ground for a few moments trying to figure out what just happened. Once Jupiter finally began to pick herself up off the ground, she said, "Now that's different."

"Hai, though didn't Sailor Moon say something similar happened the last time you and Mars fought here? Maybe there is something special about this place." Venus said. "But hey, no pain no floss right?" she as she began running to their next target.

"Yeah, you're right…" Jupiter began to say to Venus's statement, as she took off after Venus and then just shook her head.

* * *

Across town in a elementary school courtyard, Sailor Mars, Sailor Moon, ChibiMoon, and Tuxedo-Kamen unleashed their own attacks. Ryo stood a distance away in the shadows, invisible to the naked eye prepared to attack should it prove to be needed. However, he had no need, as even though ChibiMoon's and Tuxedo-Kamen's attacks were of no consequence (not even good enough to get through the floor boards), the spells of Sailor Moon and Mars were sufficient. As happened with Jupiter, the warded fire phoenix that Mars summoned ignored its caster's directions and took flight towards Sailor Moon.

The phoenix circled Sailor Moon once as the girl continued her spell and then with a squawk, it made a sharp turn and plunged into her chest. Mars yelped out in surprise and fear as she saw her spell change targets and attack Sailor Moon. But before she focus on the guilt, her attention was drawn by Sailor Moon's wings suddenly turned red as they ignited in flame and her blue eyes becoming orange-red balls of flame. Through all this Sailor Moon did not falter in her motions, apparently oblivious to having been hit by Mars's attack. As she completed her spell and held her scepter out towards the floorboards, the fire which was consuming her body lept forward flowing down her arm into her hand and finally into the wand.

Just as the first crescent moon of her attack was formed at the end of the scepter, the phoenix flew out of the scepter. Opening its beak, it swollen the crescent moon. Then as the phoenix continued to be escape from the scepter, Mars could see that its body was now adorned with crescent moons. Fully released again, the phoenix this time followed its master's original command and dove into the ground, instantly incinerating the floor boards in its way. Unable to withstand the heat of the phoenix and the purifying Moon energy, the droid crystal was sublimated into nothingness.

"Sailor Moon! Are you okay?" Mars asked in near hysterics.

Even before Sailor Moon had begun to slump to the ground, the faint outline of Ryo was at her side catching her and then transferring her over to Tuxedo-Kamen.

Opening her eyes as soon as she felt the warmth of Tuxedo-Kamen's arms, Sailor Moon stood up on her own. Giving a quick smile to the others, she took a few moments to cough out the smoke which had somehow gotten into her lungs . Then giving her wings a shake, the ash fell off them revealing them to be okay. "Watch where you cast that phoenix pyro, you almost roasted me there." She yelled at Mars, but not in anger.

Realizing that her friend was not hurt and was not upset, Rei responded in her usual manner. "Well if someone wasn't such a fire magnet, maybe there wouldn't have been a problem. How was I supposed to know that my phoenix was going to prefer snacking on you than that droid crystal? Maybe if you weren't such an odango-atama it wouldn't have thought you were a worse threat than the crystal."

* * *

In another part of town Sailor Neptune and Uranus also faced off against their target unleashing two large spheres of energy which combined into a single massive ball of energy before exploding and sending produce everywhere. However, the droid crystal was also destroyed and the store manager calmed down when Neptune showed him proof that a demon attack was immanent. Though he did still mutter under his breath about Sailor Senshi being bad for business and having no manners.

* * *

A similar seen was replayed for Sailor Mercury and Pluto, though with no collateral damage. As opposed to Neptune and Uranus, Mercury and Pluto focused their attacks down to a point so as to avoid damaging any of the merchandise. And as soon as Mercury was able to confirm that the crystal was destroyed they were on their way.

Activating her communicator as they ran, she contacted Sailor Moon. "Sailor Moon, how are you feeling?"

"I'm feeling fine Mercury-chan. I only feel the normal drain that I get after using one of my attacks." Sailor Moon said, hoping that Mercury would stick with the plan and knowing that it was a good thing that Venus had paired Mars with her, since Mars would have ended up with her one way or the other.

"Okay then, Minna-chan lets hurry and hit the second round of targets. Don't wait when you get there, just take it out as soon as you can. It doesn't look like Rubeus has any kind of safety net set with them, but the sooner they are destroyed the better."

"Hai." Came the response.

* * *

Mimete walking down a hall, was thinking about Kaolinite and how she was given the mission of finding the talismans, something that she was far more deserving of. Kaolinite subsequent failure and death was only further evidence of that fact. She had expected that once Kaolinite had been eliminated that Rubeus would have immediately selected her and given her the same enhanced powers that he had given that worthless Kaolinite. But he had not, and the rumors were that Eudial was next in line for the mission, who was even less deserving than Kaolinite.

But she tried to put that annoyance out of her mind. She had a plan, a surefire plan that would show both the professor and Rubeus how valuable she was and would be sure to get them to notice her. The problem with Kaolinite was that she just used the Crystal Daimons that the professor supplied her. She never learned why they failed in combat. However Mimete had reflected on Kaolinite's losses and realized why the Daimons did not survive. Most of the bounded objects were not chosen specifically for their ability to kill the Sailor Senshi, heck one of them was a vacuum cleaner. Nor did the professor try bounding multiple objects.

She on the other hand had thought long and hard on what the needed attributes a Sailor Senshi exterminator needed to have. The creature would need to be fast, powerful from both a distance and close and of course smart. To that goal she had collected a class IV laser, Sun Tzu's "The Art of War," a sheet of titanium, roller blades, and a martial arts black belt. Now she just needed one more item, which would be delivered Monday morning, a sniper's outfit, complete with rifle.

Not much longer now and Rubeus and the professor would have to admit to her genius. Her creature would be perfect in every way. Now in a happy mood, she continued down the hallway whistling happily, which allowed her thoughts to move onto the golden key which hung from a simple chain around her neck. She had no idea what it was, but she did know it was some kind of magical artifact. The power that the key emitted could be explained no other way.

* * *

_ Now that is something that Jean Luc should be studying, not mapping nebula. A paradox is the way to expand the imagination and there is no better paradox than a temporal one. _ Q thought to himself as he observed the fate of a certain mini black hole.

"Chibi-Chibi?" asked a voice, starting the omniscient being and causing him to jump into the air. Landing back on the ground with a racing heart, or what goes for one for him, Q found a child only a few years old with pink hair standing before him. "Chibi-Chibi?" the child repeated.

Smiling, Q spoke, "And what brings you here Cosmos? Come to watch the great Pluto face a future where events don't follow a pre-laid out path?"

In the blink of an eye the child was replaced by a grown woman dressed in a Sailor Fuku. Her fuku was white except for some yellow at the shoulders and thin stripes of color along the front of the skirt, though the most noticeable feature was her white hair and large wings. "Would I really do something like that?" she asked sweetly

"Yes. Plus you have a bag of popcorn with you." Q replied.

Cosmos had the decency to blush at Q's pointing out the popcorn and said, "You know me too well Q-chan. By the way how is Diamond's soul doing?"

"The last I heard they transferred his soul into a data cube that would continuously run the program, a good thing too since Jean Luc managed to wreck his ship. But don't worry he has a new one that I can play with."

Being reassured that Diamond's soul was still alive, Cosmos smiled. "I would have hate to have had anything happen to his soul. He was my enemy once, but he was never really evil. He was just misled by the Death Phantom. At least now he will get a second chance at life with a different set of memories."

Turning back to the gates, Cosmos observed them for a few moments. "Well the show is just about get interesting, time for me to go find my seat." Cosmos said before summoning her staff. Then walking up to the gates, she tapped the base of the staff into the ground and the gates swung open.

"Mind giving me a hint of the show?" Q asked, wondering what was about to happen that had drawn Cosmos's attention.

"Sorry you know the rules." Cosmos said. "But I will make sure to tell you all about it next time I visit. I am sure there is another good story for the Enterprise crew to act out. Oh, by the way, quack." Cosmos said before disappearing into the gate.

_ Quack? What does she mean by that? _ Q asked himself. _ Maybe she wants to create some kind of duck creature. After all it was she who dreamed up the tribbles. Or maybe a I should curse someone to turn into a duck when they are splashed by cold water. _ The creation of the tribbles was Cosmos's first foray into meddling, at least that Q knew of. If one thought about it, there was only one being who could have been their creator, since only she or her daughter could have conceived of such a creature in the first place and then for even a moment think that it would be a good idea to bring them into existence, never stopping to consider the consequences of their rapid rate of proliferation. And since her daughter did not have the power, it had to be Sailor Cosmos.

While Q was thinking about the tribbles, a second thought crossed his mind. There was a second meaning to duck and given that Cosmos had just admitted that things were about to get very interesting for Pluto, well that second meaning was probably quite important. Shrinking his body to the size of a speck of dust with a bright flash of light he was just in time to avoid being fried a second time as the gates swung open to release a massive build up of temporal energy.

Returning to his feet he strode forward to the gate and look into the swirls of the time stream looking for the source of the temporal discharge. Finding it he cringed and the kaleidoscope of temporal energy that was swirling around the point and found that it had enveloped the mini black hole that he had been observing earlier. _ Pluto is really not going to like this. _ He thought to himself. And in an action that some might think to be out of character for him he thought about contacting Pluto to warn her of the pending issue. However, that was not an option. With Cosmos in the past in her adult form, she was now the Time Guardian, not Pluto and hence he could only talk to her. _ Well I guess I will just have to watch the show then. _

-End Chapter 33  
  
End Notes: - Well another chapter concluded. And as seems to be par for the course, the chapter was primarily written many months ago and then it sat unedited for many months before I returned to it and finished it. Bad author, bad author, no biscuit. :) But at least it is now finished. And now I get to write a fun one, just hope that the muses are with me. And yes you will get to see the final time traveler next time.  
- And while you are patiently waiting for my next chapter here are a couple of very good Sailor Moon Ranma crossovers. "Sailor Ranko" by Fire, then be sure to read the sequel "Twice in a Millennium" by khammel and the further sequels by burgerbill including "Tunnel Vision," which makes use of the Terminator situation (don't be scared off by the cross over). Another very good one is "Destiny's Child" (which includes some Slayers spells and elements from 3x3 eyes) by Fire as well and for laughs a pure Sailor Moon story is "Red Moon" also by Fire.  
- If any of you are perplexed by why a part of Ami's mind was concerned about perfectly pure water, the reason is that absolutely pure water is extremely corrosive. Water apparently wants to have a some minimum level of dissolved containments. If it doesn't have them, then it will strip them off its container.  
- Those who have seen the later seasons will recognize the harp that Ami saw as belonging to her crystal level transformation.  
- For those who have read the Stars manga, I am using some of its elements with regard to ChibiChibi. However, the future is not quite as depressing for Cosmos as it is in the manga.  
- Sakai is a reference to Hiroyuki Sakai of the show "Iron Chef." He is the French Iron Chef and also happens to get all the special desert battles, hence why I choose him to play the chef (though he doesn't really like desert battles).   



	34. The Past, Present, and Future

**The Fragility of Time**  
**BOOK TWO: "Falling Towards Apotheosis"**  
**The Fragility of Time BOOK TWO: "Falling Towards Apotheosis"**  
**Chapter 33: The Past, Present and Future**  
**Author: etj4Eagle**  
Email:  
  
Lasted Edited: 12/6/04

Disclaimer: A reminder I own none of the characters of this story, all rights are owned by others. However, the unique circumstances of the story are mine. If you distribute the story, do only so freely and inform me of where you post it.

In a distant part of the Milky Way Galaxy, a planet orbited one star of a binary system in a rare stable orbit that lay within the habitable zone. Most planets in binary systems that managed to have stable orbits lay so far distant from either of their the stars that the two stars would be no more than bright stars in the night sky or were so close to one star that they were scorched by its heat. However, Erion did have a stable orbit at the perfect distance for life to thrive without the assistance of technology or magic. Initially, Erion was no different from any other planet that developed in close to their parent star, having an unstable orbit that would have eventually ejected it from the system. But a combination of magic and technology had stabilized Erion's orbit, or actually had once stabilized the orbit. Now that technology had been destroyed and the last of the magical links was on the verge of death.

"So Sailor Erion are you ready to surrender?" a woman decked out in gold armor asked.

Sailor Erion knew that the battle was hopeless and that her planet was going to die today. Roughly 60 the population was already dead and a good portion of the 40 which wasn't already fully dead had been turned into demons when their souls had been stolen. The military was in shambles and the palace was the only building semi-standing in the capital. Behind her, half the ruling council was dead and the prime minister was barely hanging onto his life. And, she herself was not that much better off either. Her left arm had been blown off by one of the demons and she now walked with a severe limp. However, giving in was not an option. The planet might be lost, but she had to stop this deranged Sailor Senshi before the whole galaxy fell.

"I won't ever give in Galaxia. I will not join your side, I would rather die first." Sailor Erion stated.

Laughing, Galaxia regarded her opponent. "Oh, I am sure you don't want to join me. Rarely does your kind want to, but they have no choice. You see before this day is over you will be executing the rest the council here and then I think I'll have you kill your own child. After all, I am sure that he is still alive here somewhere and who better to be able to find him than his own mother." Galaxia replied with a wicked smile.

"Meteor blast" Erion called out sending a rain of deadly rock towards her opponent, a barrage that was vaporized by a simple hand swipe of Galaxia.

"As amusing as this battle has been, it is time to bring it to a close." Galaxia said before unleashing dozens of her soul stealing spheres.

Leaping out of the way, Erion dodged the first of them, but she was not able to dodge them all. With a shriek of pain, her soul was forced from her body. Falling down to the ground, she saw it coalesce into a crystal pulsing with energy. She tried to move to grab it but, she could only move a little bit as her body was wracked in terrible pain and began to dissolve into motes of light. _ Well at least I won't be one of her slaves. _ Erion consoled herself with.

However, even as she thought that she felt a weight suddenly form on her wrists. Looking down she saw that she was now wearing the bracers of Galaxia's lackeys. And with that understanding of what Galaxia meant came to her. With Galaxia controlling her soul, her body now became just an empty vessel that Galaxia could manipulate and keep alive by the use of these bands. As soon as her Star Seed was in Galaxia's hands, her free will would cease to exist.

For her part, Galaxia looked on triumphantly as another Star Seed was added to her collection. Soon she would have them all and with them the power to remake the Galaxy to her desire. In a deep part of her mind another soul had a very different plan, but for now it was content with just manipulating Galaxia.

This attack, however, was not destined to be normal for as the Star Seed passed the halfway point to Galaxia it suddenly glowed brightly before vanishing. For the first few moments, Galaxia couldn't believe what she had just seen. The clanking of bracers hitting the ground brought her back to reality. Looking over to them she saw them lying empty on the ground, Erion's body having finished evaporating. Rage coursing through her body at the thought of someone interfering with her plans, Galaxia began killing everyone and destroying everything in sight. In the depths where she lay in wait, Sailor Chaos perked up. There was something very unsettling about the energy she had felt reach out and steal that Star Seed.

* * *

It was lunch time and that meant that the lab was deserted for the next few hours. Mimete did not expect the professor back for awhile as he typically liked to have a leisurely lunch with a cup of coffee, or twenty. The rest of the lab assistants would stay away from the basement till mid-afternoon as today Mimete was scheduled to give the Daimon incubator its weekly cleaning. The glop that was cleaned out each week was quite foul and no one, if they could help it, would be caught in the general area of the lab while it was being cleaned out. Normally, Mimete cursed the days when she had to clean the incubator; however, today was not one of those days.

Today she wanted the privacy that cleaning out the incubator brought. And anyways with her plans, she didn't have the time to do her chore, but she was sure that the professor wouldn't mind once she had succeeded in killing the Sailor Senshi. Opening the door to the lab, she pushed a cart loaded with her supplies into the lab. Coming to a halt beside the incubator, she opened the access hatch to the machine and began the task of unpacking the various items she had collected. Opening the case containing the sniper rifle, she looked over the directions for a few minutes before assembling the high powered rifle. But then as she attempted to place it into the incubator, she ran into a slight problem, it was too long.

_ Now that isn't good. How am I supposed to give my creation sniper abilities if I can't get the rifle into the processing bay? Hmm... Well it shouldn't really matter if I put it in disassembled, the Daimon should be able to just reassemble it. _ Mimete decided. And so, Mimete began the process of dissembling the rifle and placing the various components into the incubator. Turning back to the cart, she noticed the instruction booklet she had used in the rifle's assembly. _ Better give it the instructions as well, so it will know how to put its weapon back together. _ Mimete thought before tossing the manual and then the copy Sun Tzu's Art of War into to the incubator.

Fifteen minutes later she removed the last item from her cart, a sheet of titanium and placed it into the incubator. Then turning back to the cart, she gave it a final check to make sure she had not missed any of the items. Seeing nothing, she turned back to look at the very full processing bay of the incubator and tried to think of anything she might have missed. "Well let's see. There is the laser, roller blades, black belt, martial arts videos, rifle, explosives, titanium, comic books, military strategy books, and of course the Daimon egg crystal. Nope I think that is all." Mimete concluded. Satisfied that every thing was ready, she closed the door to the processing bay. Though, as she was about to latch it shut, she thought of one final item that she had wanted to include – the strange key. "Almost forgot about you." she said as she pulled the chain that held the key out from under her blouse. "I have no idea what you really are, but something tells me that you are special, which means that it can't hurt that I am placing you in with everything else."

And so, Mimete added the final item and then closed and latched the hatch shut. Thankfully there wasn't anything else she wanted to place inside of it, as there was maybe enough room for a thin crust pizza, but that was it. Walking over to the control panel, Mimete pulled out the instruction manual, which was titled "So you want to make a life energy stealing monster?" Following the steps in the binder, she took the necessary steps to prep the machine and then once all the gauges and dials were showing the incubator to be ready, she pressed the large go button and stepped back to watch her genius at work.

At first the incubator appeared to be processing Mimete's Daimon no differently than the others; however, after a half a minute, she noticed that some of the gauges were beginning to climb into the danger zones. Unable to do anything, Mimete watched as one gauge after the other was redlined. Then as the needles began to peg, Mimete's attention was drawn by the rumbling sound that was coming from the incubator. Looking at it, she saw that it was visibly shaking and that even some of the bolts looked like they were being strained to the breaking point. Taking some steps backward, Mimete put the control console between herself and the incubator. With a rapidly deepening sense of doom, Mimete noticed that the incubator was now billowing smoke.

But then with from one moment to the next, the rumbling and smoking stopped, as a dinner bell sounded. Cautiously looking at the incubator, Mimete sighed in relief that she was not going to be killed by it exploding. Though as Mimete sighed, the incubator also appeared to give a sigh of its own, a sigh that was quickly followed by loud crash as the machine just collapsed to the ground in a pile of parts while kicking up a large cloud of dust.

Coughing and waving her arms in front of her face in order to clear up the air so that she could see, a now once again very nervous Mimete walked forward to inspect the rubble. She just hoped that her Daimon had survived; because if it did, then the loss of the incubator was a minor price to pay. Shifting through the rubble, she noticed that the machine appeared to have come apart at the connectors, which made the task of moving through the rubble much easier. After many minutes of searching, she finally came across her goal – a metal briefcase with a black stare emblazed on its sides. All set now to kill the Sailor Senshi, Mimete left the lab.

* * *

A few hours after Mimete had finished destroying the Daimon incubator found Usagi, Naru, Ami, Minako, and Makoto on their way do some shopping. Given that they had all taken a history test earlier in the day, they were on their way to reward themselves for their hard work in studying. Turning a corner, the group came to a collective stop as they spotted Setsuna who was sitting on top of a low wall that ran along the sidewalk eating an ice-cream cone.

"Setsuna you're eating an ice-cream cone?" Minako blurted out, verbalizing the thought that was running through the minds of the rest of the group. Being the mysterious warrior that she was, none of the others had really ever conceived that she might have a normal life. It was much the same way that students are often surprised when they come across their teachers outside of school.

Of course the rest managed to avoid speaking out loud that question and Minako was rewarded for the bluntness of her question by having Makoto grabbing her hair and yanking it backwards while she placed a hand over the blonde's mouth while hissing "baka."

For her part, Setsuna just chuckled at the antics of the group, once again realizing why she liked being in this part of the timeline so much. "No offense taken Minna-san. And yes Minako-chan, I do at times have the time to enjoy the roses. I am not all work" Then after a moment's pause, she added "at least when I am in the time-stream. And normally during this time I have a fair bit of time to myself. It's just with the damage to the time-stream this time around that is keeping me unusually busy."

"Well then you definitely deserve that ice cream cone." replied Usagi.

Grabbing a hold of one of Minako's arms, Makoto told her "Come along, we're going to get cones for the rest of us." before yanking the blond along with her.

"Why me?" Minako protested as she was pulled along.

Makoto's replied first with a look of "you know why" and then added verbally "and you're paying for them as well." Returning a few minutes later with the cones, Makoto handed the extra cone that she was holding to Naru, while Minako gave one to Ami and Usagi.

"Arigato Minako-chan." Ami said as she received her cone, how much do I owe you for this?"

"Nothing they're on me." The blond replied.

"Arigatoo, Arigatoo" the silver haired Usagi replied, always ecstatic about the opportunity for free food.

* * *

A squadron of what some might term to be the ugliest planes ever designed, began their final approach to the Zima airfield. While they might not look pretty, they looked even uglier to enemy ground troops, for they were designed for close in air-support. Unlike the sleek high flying jets, these planes nicknamed the Warthog stayed close to the ground and flew slow. Their wings were normally loaded down with all kinds of weaponry while their nose was outfitted with a large armor piercing cannon. All in all, an A-10 Warthog was the worst nightmare of a tank and the brass hoped the worst night nightmare of a demon as well. This squadron was the first batch of a recent arms purchase with the United States and had until recently been assigned to a National Guard unit.

"This is Zima tower, you are cleared for landing on runways 27 left and 27 right."

On the ground many of the base's personnel had come out to watch the arrival of the new aircraft. The gunship crews of course put on a front of being annoyed that the brass apparently did not feel that they had what was needed to defend their country and that they now had to accept help from fixed wing pilots. But internally they all were thankful for whatever help they could get. When going up against demons that could take multiple rockets it was worth swallowing your pride. After all, once you get shown up by a group of school girls in short skirts, your ego can't really go any lower.

* * *

Not long after Setsuna had gotten the company of Usagi, Naru, Ami, Makoto and Minako, Rei had joined the group. Thankfully, they were not far from where Rei was to meet up with them, so she had found them without too much effort after realizing that they weren't showing at the meeting place. Otherwise Usagi might have gotten an ear full. Instead, Rei had forgone any complaining to instead get a cone of her own.

Feeling something ripple against her spirit, Rei dropped out of the conversation that she was having with the others. Scanning the area, she tried to identify what it was she had just felt or at least get an idea of what direction it had come from. But her senses couldn't pick up anything else out of the ordinary. _ That's strange, that was a strong enough ripple that I should be able to sense some kind of residue. Well I can't do anything about it now, I'll have to ask grandpa tonight if he had sensed anything. _ Rei thought before turning back to the group to rejoin the conversation. However, when she saw Setsuna's face, she realized that the green haired woman had also felt the ripple and apparently still was given the grimace on her face.

"Setsuna-san are you feeling all right?" Rei asked concern in her voice.

"I... I don't know." Setsuna replied in a hesitant voice. And, then before she or Rei could say anything more, Rei saw Setsuna's eyes roll up into the back of her head. Moving on instinct, Rei was able to move into position to catch hold of Setsuna as she collapsed and thereby kept the older woman from fallowing off the wall.

Dropping their cones, the others all quickly huddled around, while Rei with Makoto's help lowered Setsuna to the ground. Setsuna's eyes opened moments after she was lowered to the ground and she looked up into a group of worried girls. Moving to rise, a gentle but firm push from Ami kept her down. "Wait a few minutes before you try to sit-up." Ami instructed.

"I'm fine now; you don't have to worry about me passing out again." Setsuna said, trying to be allowed to get up.

"Uh huh," Ami mumbled not really believing Setsuna. Holding up her hand she asked, "Setsuna-san how many fingers am I holding up?"

Directing her attention at Ami's hand, Setsuna counted three fingers. But even as she counted the three fingers, she also counted two fingers and then five, as well as four, one, and zero. She closed her eyes as she felt her grip on reality going again as well as a building pain in her soul. The pain she felt was a sympathetic pain resulting from time itself being ripped apart and all Setsuna wanted to do was curl up on herself. But then suddenly the pain was all gone; it was as if someone had flipped a switch turning it off. The sudden disappearance of her pain worried Setsuna even more than the pain itself.

"Minna-san you don't have to worry anymore, I am no longer being affected." Setsuna said now that she was free of the pain. However, Ami did not appear to believe her and so Setsuna elaborated. "What I was suffering from are sympathetic pains caused by damage to the time-stream. As its Guardian, I can feel in my soul when spacetime is damaged. Now I need to be allowed to return to my feet so that I can check something."

Usagi could tell from one look at Ami's face, that the doctor to be was not about to relent with just Setsuna's say-so that she was all better. "Ami, I think we need to let Setsuna get up. If something has happened, the only way we are going to be able to help her is if she can investigate it."

"Hai, I guess your right. But if she gets another one of these attacks, she lays right back down." Ami stated.

"Agreed." Usagi and Setsuna said.

Getting some help from Naru, Setsuna returned to her feet and summoned her staff. The others all gasped as they saw the Garnet Orb atop of the staff pulsing widely as storm waged inside of it. Placing a hand on the orb, Setsuna was once again able to feel the ripping of the fabric of spacetime. _ What has that fool Rubeus done now? I knew I should have killed him when I first saw him. _ Pluto tried to tell herself, even though she knew that if she had she would be facing a crisis in the future which she could not fight, Sailor Moon destroying the cosmos. No, at least she could still try to head off the pending temporal collapse. Setsuna's thoughts now turned to why she now needed the Garnet Orb to sense the flow of time. Instantly finding the cause, Pluto thought to herself, _ Either this is a battle of a scale far worse than Galaxia or I am about to become the butt of a cosmic joke. _

"Setsuna-san what's happening?" Usagi asked with a slight bit of fear in her voice, knowing in her soul that something was very wrong. And the storm in the Garnet Orb was doing nothing to quell those fears.

While, she heard Usagi' question, Setsuna did not respond; instead, there was another task that she needed to do first, one which required all of her attention. Focusing in on the Garnet Orb, she linked her mind to the Talisman and instructed it to disconnect from the staff and to come to rest in her hand. Then pulling the orb in close she instructed it to change shape, to shrink in on itself and to form into a pendent. With the transformation of the talisman complete, she affixed it around her neck and slipped it inside of her blouse.

Setsuna then proceeded to take a few moments to verify her renewed connection to time and to confirm that her stopgap measure would work. Satisfied, she opened her eyes and looked at the concerned group of friends. "Minna-san, I am afraid that we face a very serious threat. Rubeus has unleashed powers that he does not comprehend and if we don't stop what he has started, the cosmos will collapse in on itself and cease to exist."

The others just stood stunned at that pronouncement. Finally it was Makoto who spoke "You're sure about that?"

"Hai I am. As the Guardian of Spacetime, I am aware of any substantial disruption to the natural flows of time. Just now I felt a major ripping of time, as if time itself was being destroyed. As we speak the concepts of the past, future and present are becoming meaningless. Because of my connection to time, I am affected by this damage. However, I am now shielded from the effects." Setsuna explained. However, she decided to keep secret about loosing the majority of her powers. They did not need to concern themselves with that, and anyways her full powers would be a handicap in this fight.

"So how are we supposed to go about finding what is messing with time?" Makoto asked.

"How about we ask those soldiers?" Minako suggested.

"And why would the JDF know anything about this?" Rei replied with a bitter tone. However she did follow Minako's arm and upon seeing the soldiers she answered her own question with an "Oh." The soldiers Minako was pointing out were not those of the JDF, but instead an army unit from the Warring States Era.

"Tell me that they are just actors preparing to stage a mock ancient battle." Makoto pleaded.

"Unfortunately not," Setsuna said. "Look at the confusion and fear on their faces. To them they have suddenly walked into a nightmare as their world was transformed into this one of concrete, steel and glass.

No words needed to be said after that, the girls all just looked at each other while summoning their transformation wands and then in a brilliant flash of light they were ready to face whatever was doing this.

"Minna-san, I suggest we split up and look for what is causing this." Mercury suggested. "Something has to be generating the temporal disturbance that is disrupting time's arrow."

"Hai," the others agreed, even though they did not quite understand exactly what Mercury had just said.

Jumping onto a nearby building, Ami heard the ringing of something removed to a different plane of existence. Stopping on the roof she tried to figure out what was causing this ringing sound she was hearing. Though she quickly decided hearing was not really the right word, as there was no sound. Instead, she was only sensing that she was hearing something ringing. _ So how can I be hearing something, but not be hearing it? It's as if I am connected to where it this ringing is coming from and that connection is allowing the ringing to come through. Wait I wonder. _Ami thought before concentrating to access a part of her outfit before her transformation. The first two times she tried she failed, but on the third trial she was able to hold her focus long enough to grab a hold of her cell phone and to bring it forth. A smile instantly crossed her face as the phone gave another ring.

"Moshi, moshi." Mercury said as she resumed her jog across the roof-tops.

"Ami-chan, something screwy is going on. I don't know what, but I am being bombarded by constant visions. However, some of these are ones I have had before." a male voice, which Ami instantly identified as Ryo's, said.

"Hai, we know. Setsuna is being similarly affected. We haven't found the cause yet, just tried to hold on." Mercury said before running smack in the middle of a wall. "Owe where did that come from?" a dazed Mercury said to no one, as she picked herself back up off the ground. Realizing that she was no longer holding her cell phone, she looked around trying to find it, but did not see it. Getting to her feet, she walked over to the edge of the building, and looked down. "Mom is not going to be happy." She grumbled to herself as she recognized the smashed remains of her cell some stories below her on the ground. _ Now what the heck did I run into? _ she wondered as she turned back around and did not see anything that she could have run into.

* * *

A portal opened on the roof of the Juuban Junior High School, allowing a winged Sailor Senshi to step into the time stream. _ Oh, how I miss being here. _ she thought to herself. Though after taking note of exactly where she had opened the portal, she added _ though, maybe not this exact place. Boy wouldn't Haruna-sensei be surprised to learn what I have made of my life_. 

Jumping off the roof, Cosmos began walking down the street. However, she didn't get too far before she realized she was drawing quite a many puzzled looks. While the people of Tokyo had seen the Sailor Senshi on TV many times now, it was still something to see one walking down the street. And many took that to be a bad omen, and then there was the fact that none knew who she was either. _ Oops, guess being back in the past is making me an Odango-atama. _ she thought to herself before chanting a simple spell that caused people to ignore her. _ Ah, much better. Now where is the best seat going to be for the show? _

"Ahh... What the... hell...?" Cosmos cried out in pain as she was suddenly hit with a head wrenching headache which was followed moments later by the feeling of her flesh being pulled away from her bones. Dropping to the ground panting, Cosmos tried to run through some mental exercises to get control of her faculties. Breathing hard, she was able to after much effort focus her thoughts onto a point. Holding the meditation she began a spell:

"Time which is mine to command

"Flow around that which gives you life and guides you.

"For all that is young must learn to grow.

"Strike out of the cradle. Become yourself.

"I'll catch you should you fall, but for now I'll watch."

Each word was a struggle to say and Cosmos knew she could not let the rhythm of the spell falter nor the tone in which the words were song. But finally she finished the spell and a great wave of violet energy radiated out from her body. As it passed, tendrils of energy flowing into her body became visible; but then as the spell worked its magic, they began to flow around instead of through her body. Once the last of them was diverted to flow around her body, the pain vanished and Cosmos collapsed to the ground.

The crisis was over so she could wallow in the pain she had suffered for a moment while she gathered the strength to cast a healing spell. Once she had flushed the last traces of the ordeal from her body she rolled onto her back and noticed that people were again gawking at her. _ Of course my spell would have dropped when the temporal wave hit me. Though, why the wave didn't hit me when I first stepped into the timeline I don't know. Maybe Q-chan has an idea. Well time to stop pretending to be road kill and time to go find my seat. Though maybe I'll stop by the arcade first for old time's sake. _Cosmos thought to herself while developing a large grin from her last thought.

* * *

Some blocks away, Jupiter suddenly rediscovered gravity as the building whose roof she was running along suddenly vanished and was replaced by an animal pen. With a yelp of surprise, she plummeted to the ground and landed on a chicken. Shaking her head, she picked herself up off the ground onto her knees and found herself looking into they eyes of a hog.

"Oink"

"Okay… Now where did this farm come from and where did that office building go?" Jupiter asked out loud. Looking around she realized that it wasn't just the office building that was missing, but the rest of Tokyo. Standing up, the Senshi of Jupiter tried to get most of the mud off her uniform. Sloshing out of the pigpen, she walked onto a dirt path and was almost got run over by a truck. Jumping back at the last minute, she landed in a stand of fresh vegetables. As she lay on the ground her only thought was, _ I hope the others are having better luck. _ and with that thought a watermelon bonked her on the head.

* * *

Venus while not having run into or fallen off any buildings was not, however, having any easier of a time in locating the source of the disturbance. For her, the hindrance in her search came in the form of four foot snow drifts and an advancing glacier. Yeah, she had kind of dazed off during science class while they were discussing the geological epochs and the extremes that the Earth's climate went through, but did not see that as a valid reason why she needed to first hand experience an ice age and the advance of glaciers. Normally outrunning the glacier would not have been a problem, but the height of the snow made moving any faster than a snails pace difficult and she was not about to try jumping up to a roof with the fierce blizzard she currently was in. Earlier on she had tried using her Meteor Shower attack on the glacier, but all that ended up doing was resulting in her being showered by the ice chunks that were blown off.

About the only thing going for her right now was that all of the civilians had gotten off the streets and into safe harbor. Most likely they had decided to split this particular part of the city when the heavy snow began to fall and snow drifts suddenly appeared. Hitting an exposed sheet of ice, Venus skidded across an intersection that was for once free of snow and then promptly was tossed forward and down on to her face when her sandal hit dry pavement.

Picking herself up, Venus looked around and could see a very clear line where the ice age ended and reality reasserted itself. Very happy to be out of the winter wonderland, Venus continued on her journey. Running down one street and then the next, she began to note that she was feeling fairly warm, but put it aside figuring that it was just an after effect of having been in the freezer. But to her dismay it was not, for the buildings were soon replaced by a jungle and it began to rain and rain hard. _ Guess the weathermen must be looking at nice places to retire after today's weather. _ a very wet and not too happy Venus thought to herself.

* * *

Elsewhere in the Juuban ward of Tokyo, a brown-haired woman slowly regained consciousness. Feeling a massive headache which suggested that she should just return to the bliss of oblivion, she tried to remember what had happened. Coming up with nothing, she decided to open her eyes. Blinking against the brightness of the sun, the headache increased in intensity before it began to recede. _ Well at least that's better. _ she though to herself as the headache began to vanish. Still lying there on the ground staring up into the sky, she began to feel the rest of her senses return. After about ten minutes, she decided that she was ready to chance sitting up.

Now in a seated position she took in her surroundings. To her left was a long low building, while in front of her stood a massive tree. For some reason, she thought there should be some indentations and cracked concrete in the side of the building. Letting the memories come back at there own pace she put that thought to the side and returned to looking at the tree. There was something about the tree, she realized. And as she continued to stare at it, the memories from before began to return. She could now remember the feeling of triumph that she had felt when her prey Tsukino Usagi had surrendered. How she was going to be able to return in victory to Galaxia-sama, completing the work of her rival, Tin Crow. The others had of course tried to stop her, but her trump card had forced Sailor Moon to surrender peacefully. She remembered watching with wonder as her energy spheres sliced into the young girl's chest, enveloping her in the black energy that proceeded to painfully rip the girl's soul from her body. She remembered her amazement at the brightness and purity of that star seed, a shine that just seemed to get brighter with each passing moment. Then her thoughts turned dark as she remembered with horror the shattering of the containment vessel which restrained the mini-black hole and the voice of the one whose greed had ruined everything.

But if that black hole had been released why then was this planet, much less this schoolyard still here? Even more so why was she still here; the last thing she remembered was the pain of her body being ripped apart by the gravity of that black hole. The only possible explanation was that Sailor Moon was responsible. The shine of that girl's seed was far brighter than even her own and one would probably need to gather a large fraction of Galaxia-sama's collection together to match the shine of that particular star. Though even with her realization that Sailor Moon was the one who had saved her life, Sailor Lead Crow was not deterred from her mission, a mission that would leave Sailor Moon nothing more than motes of light after she had taken the girl's soul and given it to her master. No, all Sailor Moon's actions meant was that she was going to get one final chance to please Galaxia-sama. Now getting to her feet, Sailor Lead Crow let her combat attire fade and be replaced instead by her disguise.

* * *

The air traffic controller stared at the monitor displaying the radar return as suddenly 50 radar contacts appeared on it. _ You've got to be kidding me. Where the hell did those come from? _ he thought to himself, before activating his mike. "This is Tokyo tower to unidentified crafts at approaching on vector 138 to Tokyo please respond. We are not receiving your transponder signals." Silence was his only reply and so he tried to contact them a second time. When that failed, he turned and waved at his supervisor.

_ Guess there must be a problem with the equipment. _ Yosho thought to himself as he got up to see what the matter was. Arriving at the desk of the controller, he blinked his eyes hoping that he was just imaging what he saw. But they were still there. "Is there any planned activity by the JDF?" he asked the operator.

"Iie, I checked the log book and the only thing they have scheduled for today was an arrival of a squadron. However, they have already arrived and there are for too many contacts in this collection anyways."

"Damn." Yosho replied. "The only thing left is a demon attack. But so many contacts?" Returning to his desk, Yosho picked up his phone and dialed a number that all of the shift supervisors had memorized.

Over at the Zima military base Col Himura answered the ringing phone. Listening to what the party on the other end was relaying, he felt his legs go week. "How many contacts did you say you had?" he asked. "No, we don't have any flight operations under way that could be responsible." Then taking a deep breath, Himora began his orders. "Sir, under the authority given to be by the Diet, I am here by ordering the airspace around Tokyo closed. All traffic is to immediately exit the airspace or if that is not possible land at the closest airfield. Any craft still airborne in fifteen minutes will be considered to be hostile and maybe attacked without warning."

The other soldiers in the control tower turned and anxiously looked at their CO. Hanging up the phone; the CO walked quickly to the wall and pressed the alarm button.

* * *

Standing outside one of the hangers, Keffer and other base personal watched the newly arrived A-10 Warthogs taxi off the runway. They had all come out to take a look at these new craft that had been purchased, glad to see that higher ups were finally getting some common sense with regard to the threat. The planes were just making the final turn towards the hangers when the klaxons began to blare.

Receiving new orders from the tower, the recently arrived jets made a sharp turn from the hanger they were heading towards, instead now taxing towards a spot on the apron closest to the bunkers. All around the base, activity suddenly came out of the wood works as hanger doors were opened and the ground crews went about getting all the available craft ready for launching.

* * *

Elsewhere in the city, ChibiUsa was enjoying an afternoon at Hotaru's, or at least she would be as soon as they finished with their homework. Right now they were busy working their way through their language drills. While ChibiUsa did not have much trouble with the math and science, given her 30th century education, language and history did give her a fair bit of trouble. For history there was the obvious cause of there being an additional millennium of history in what she learned so the emphasis on the various elements was of course different. With respect to language, Japanese like any language had evolved a fair bit over the thousand years and so for ChibiUsa it was almost like learning a new language. And even though she had once spoken the 20th century version of it, that was a thousand years ago.

"Hotaru could you give me a hand here, I am not quite sure about the correct conjugation to use." ChibiUsa asked.

Looking over at ChibiUsa's paper, Hotaru began to explain what needed to be done. However, the sound of large dull noise outside caused both girls to halt in what they were doing. Looking at each other with a fair bit of fear in their faces, the two moved slowly towards the window. They heard three more of those sounds as they walked to the window and each of those three also rattled the entire room as well and caused the two of them to freeze each time. Finally arriving at the window, they poked their heads over the window sill, looked out, and froze.

"ChibiUsa is that what I think it is?" Hotaru asked her voice quivering.

"If you mean a Tyrannosaurus Rex, then Hai." ChibiUsa replied not believing what she was seeing.

"Eak!" the two girls cried as the dinosaur turned and looked straight at them. Jumping back, the girls dodged away from the window just before a snort from the hungry predator blew it in. Feeling the hot breath of the creature now on their skin, the two of them tried to scramble backwards, however in their fear they headed to the corner of the room that did not have the door.

Coming up short with the wall, the two of them stopped and turned around to look at the dinosaur. Both of the girls were hoping that it would ignore them; unfortunately, the creature had been just about to take a bite of its dinner when its dinner suddenly vanished, which did not make it that happy. Upset with loosing its dinner, it now looked to take some of the bite off its hunger by snacking on ChibiUsa and Hotaru before hunting for larger fare. And so it forced its snout in through the opening, ripping it open wider, and getting halfway to the two very scared girls.

Screaming at the top of their lungs, the two girls grabbed a hold of each other. "Momma help me!" ChibiUsa cried while she hung onto her best friend not wanting to die. For her part, Hotaru spoke a prayer that her soul had never spoke before, "Cosmos by your grace save us."

Out of the corner of their eyes, the two of them saw the T-Rex moving in for a second attempt and this time it would not get stopped only halfway, as a large junk of the window frame was now missing. Screaming ever louder they grasped a hold of each other even tighter. Unknown to each other, their planetary symbols began to blaze on their foreheads, followed soon by their auras. Lost to their fears, neither girl was conscious to the changes happening around them. However, when Hotaru's eyes turned violet the other half of her soul looked out. Not knowing what was going on, she could tell from the state of her body and that of her human half's friend that something was about to happen that was very bad. And she also could feel in her own part of her soul that something was very wrong with the fabric of reality.

Coming to a quick decision, Saturn erected her Silence Wall around the two of them. While her Silence Wall would normally not be that powerful without the Silence Glaive that her human half held, she was able to draw upon the power of the moon that ChibiUsa was emitting. Using the moon power she created a shield that would protect them not just from the jaws of the creature that wanted to make them a snack, but would also lock the two of them off from the flow of time. With the stasis field active, the power of Saturn went dormant again till the disturbance was either gone or had approached the point at which the Silence was needed.

Outside of the stasis field, the dinosaur bit into the dome that suddenly encased its prey. However, to its annoyance it found that it could not take a hold of the snack. It was as if it had tried to chomp down on a boulder. Trying again, the creature bashed through even more of the wall and got a better bite on the dome, but it still could not get a grip on it. Enraged it swung its head and knocked the dome out through a wall and into the yard before stomping off to find a new snack to eat.

* * *

Following the sensation of the most wrong, Pluto slowly walked through the streets looking for the source of the problem. It was hard going as the temporal distortions that were being spawned proved to muddle the lower level sense of wrong from the ultimate source of the problem. By the way of what little connection she still had to time, she was able to avoid the more egregious problems of walking into buildings that suddenly appeared that the others had and by staying on the ground she avoided the problem of having a building vanish. Of course she still had to pause to let the column of World War II soldiers pass. Thankfully she was just about to leave an alleyway when they appeared, so she did not draw their attention.

"Solar Flare" came the cry of a girl's voice.

Acting on instinct, Pluto jumped back just in time to avoid being caught up in the sudden wave of fire that enveloped the area in front of her. Letting the raging fire die down after a minute, she cautiously walked out onto the still soft pavement and saw some kind of giant creature that was now cooked to a crisp lying on the ground.

"Pluto, I'm glad you're here. The Godzilla's are one thing, but what is it with all these youma?" a red haired girl wearing a Sailor Fuku asked while gesturing to a raging army of youma that was trashing the city a block down.

_ Another Sailor Senshi? Are the walls of possibility falling _ Pluto wondered as she tried to figure out who this red head was, while at the same time knowing that she seemed familiar for some reason.

"Did Mars develop a new power?" Sailor Moon asked as she landed beside Pluto, having been drawn by the tower of flame.

"Hey guys come join in the fun, these youma are pushovers." The red head declared from where she was now in the midst of a large group of youma fighting them all.

"Umm… who is the read head and why does she seem so happy?" Uranus, who had arrived just moments after Sailor Moon, asked.

Finally making the connection, Pluto barely was able to contain her gasp of surprise. "That is Sailor Sun; she is from an alternate timeline. While she is a very loyal and powerful Senshi, she is an unbalanced embodiment of chaos and the timeline never remained stable when she existed. The timelines would quickly degrade from Crystal Tokyo to Usagi being a sadistic killer who tortured and killed Luna upon learning her power and then hunted down each of the Sailor Senshi in turn."

"Me?" Sailor Moon asked in confusion.

"I can't conceive of her highness being able to do anything like that." Uranus added.

"Hai and in the majority of the timelines she doesn't. Just for some reason Ranma's presence disrupted the natural balance."

"You didn't… ?" Sailor Moon asked, thinking of only one possible reason for there not being a Sailor Sun.

"Not in the way you think. I gave Ranma a better childhood. By allowing him to grow up at home with both his mom and dad instead of being taken on a 10 year training journey by an abusive father, the power of Sailor Sun never awoke. And all it took was giving the baka father a limp." _ And something similar was done back in the Silver Millennium. _

A youma landing unconscious between the three of them broke up their little discussion and Sailor Moon and Uranus moved in to give Sun some help. Pluto, however, after taking a few calming breaths returned to her search of the source of the problem. The arrival of Sailor Sun indicated that the threat was far worse than she had initially thought, as now any and everything could pretty much pop into existence here in Tokyo. The threat of the power of Saturn awakening was becoming very real now. Besides acting to ensure the awakening of Cosmos, Saturn's powers were also created to protect the other realities which lay along the fifth dimension. Should slippage begin to occur along the fifth dimension, Saturn would be sure to awaken and then everything would be destroyed. _ We probably have three hours tops, before the damage gets bad enough to awaken Saturn. _ Pluto thought to herself.

* * *

"This is Falcon 3; I have a visual on the bogies." came the voice over the radio, as a group of interceptors approached the unknown radar contacts. "Kami-sama. There are dozens of them, but they look like regular planes. I am moving in to get a visual ID."

"Roger that Falcon 3." Zima radioed back.

As the lead interceptor moved in closer to the flight of bogies; the other two craft of the flight held back with their missiles still armed, ready to launch on an instant should the targets prove to be demons. "What the hell? These look like they are World War II vintage craft." The surprised pilot of Falcon 3 reported. Then in a more collected voice, he radioed the tower, "Zima Falcon 3, I am confirming that the craft have old style US markings on them. I repeat these are World War II era US bombers."

"Understood, Falcon flight pullback and do not engage the craft. I repeat do not engage the craft." Zima instructed.

"Zima, what is the deal here?" Falcon 4 asked.

"We have been receiving multiple reports from the city of time displaced elements and have been instructed by the Sailor Senshi to avoid attacking them so as to avoid changing the past." came the response

"Then that means that those are a real flight of World War II bombers on a mission?" Falcon 5 stated.

"Hai, and we now get to just watch them go on their mission." Falcon 3 replied.

And so the three fighter pilots along the rest of their squadron shadowed above and behind the attacking Americans. All too soon the group arrived at the heart of the city. Then seeing specks begin to fall away from the belly of the planes, Falcon 3 yelled into his radio, "Oh hell. They are bombing the city. I repeat, Zima the craft are bombing Tokyo. Request authorization to engage."

"Understood. Falcon flight you are now cleared to engage and destroy the hostile craft."

And so the 3 lead craft and the other 9 craft that made up the interdiction group broke from their shadowing position. Seconds later they all had target locks and were launching their missiles. As soon as the first missile was fired, the pilots were already selecting a new target, trying to drop the bombers as fast as possible. But then as the first fire bombs began to hit the ground and the first wave of missiles were halfway to their target, the bombers winked out of the present and back to where they belonged in the past.

Watching on now with horror, the pilots saw their missiles slam into the downtown office buildings. While the fire bombs did damage themselves, setting some buildings on fire, the damage done by the missiles was far worse. Whole sides were blown out of buildings as the missiles easily passed through the glass outer skins of the buildings and then detonated inside.

"Kami-sama no." cried many of the pilots and more than one pilot found the need to relieve themselves of their lunch.

"Falcon flight, return to base." Falcon 3 ordered and the various jets slowly turned and began a depressing flight back to their base.

* * *

Thirty minutes after she had left Sailor Sun, Pluto felt that she was very close to the source of the temporal disturbance as the sense of wrongness was reaching a crescendo. Turning a corner, she was barely saved from having her heart pierced by a bullet as her senses suddenly screamed at her to jump. Hitting the ground, she dodged again as her senses again screamed at her and another bullet just missed hitting her. Looking around, she noticed what she guessed to be a demon two blocks down before being forced to dodge again, this time finding some momentarily shelter behind a parked car.

_ Figures, it wouldn't do for them to just have some beacon causing the damage. No it would have to be a demon and one with a sniper rifle at that. _ Pluto thought to herself. Then opening her communicator she contacted the others, "Minna-san, I have found the demon that is causing the problems. I am half a mile east of the hospital that Mercury's mother works at. And be careful, Rubeus appears to have been serious when he was putting this one together." Pluto said as she activated her communicator.

Then with the others summoned, she broke from her cover and began racing a dodging pattern down the street, closing the distance to the demon. Getting in close to the demon she fired off one of her Dead Screams; but unfortunately to her consternation, this particular demon also appeared to have some smarts. She had waited till she had gotten so close to the demon that it wouldn't be able to dodge her attack, but unlike other demons this one had fallen into a crouch that minimized the effect of the blast.

And as soon as the blast had passed, it too was on the move and taking pop shots at Pluto with its rifle. It was only by her constant dodging that Pluto was able to avoid being hit by any of those shots. And as focused as she was on dodging, Pluto was unable to spare the moments required for launching any follow up attacks on the demon, which was staying on the move.

"Venus Crescent Beam" announced Venus, bringing relief to the tiring Senshi of Time. From the top of the roof she had arrived on, Venus smiled and gave Pluto a V sign as the attack hit the demon dead on its chest. However, her smile quickly vanished as she realized that her attack hadn't even phased the demon one bit. Standing in shock over her attack having no effect, she was only barely saved from getting blasted by the fortunate arrival of Jupiter who had tackled her off the roof just before the area where she had been standing exploded.

Unfortunately, Jupiter had barely enough time to realize that Venus was just about to be toasted and constantly her plan to save the blond was nothing more than rush and grab her. Therefore, as the two hit the street in lots of pain, she wondered if Venus might have been better off had she left the blond on the roof to take the blast. Standing up with some effort, she looked up from the ground just in time to see the demon's knee strike her in the gut sending her up into the air. This was then followed by hundreds of punches that propelled her back into an alley where she landed in a dumpster. _ Yes, getting blasted up on the roof would have been less painful. _ was her last thought before she passed out.

"Dead Scream" Pluto whispered out and this time the attack took the demon by surprise. Unfortunately, the cost for getting this one good hit in was the pounding that Jupiter had received.

Calls of "World Shaking" and "Deep Submerge" announced the arrival of the two other guardians of the solar system. Their attacks slammed into the demon which had just pulled itself up from the wall that it had been slammed against. The attacks decimated that side of the building, leaving just rubble. However the demon was quickly back on its feet and moving very quickly towards the two new arrivals. And then in a blink of an eye it had passed by the two and away from the group.

"Huh, why did it not attack us?" Uranus asked in confusion as she and Neptune looked at each other.

The answer to that question was the unnoticed present that the demon had left them, a present which chose this moment to detonate. Flung skywards like rag dolls, the two barely were able to hang on to consciousness as they fell back to the ground. Slowly returning to her feet, Neptune felt a sudden blinding pain in her chest as the strength left her body and she feel back to the ground.

"Wha… Wha…" she tried to choke out as struggled to remain conscious while coughing up some blood.

"MICHIRU!" Uranus screamed out at the top of her lungs as she saw her lover dropped by the demon. Summing all her energy and funneling it to her legs, she found her full strength and more return as she made a mad dash across the street.

Even with the winds giving her strength, she never would have made to give comfort to her love if it was not for the momentarily forgotten Venus. Having returned to her feet, she summoned her chain and used it to wrap up the demon's rifle. Giving a yank she pulled the rifle loose and with a flick of her wrist sent it clattering to the ground in the direction of Pluto.

"Thanks Venus," Pluto said to her comrade before glancing at the rifle and whispering "Dead Scream." Now turning to the demon, a slight smile graced her lips as she began running towards it. Pulling away at the last minute, she unleashed another attack; but unfortunately, the demon had read her move and she found the creature still in front of her. Using her staff to parry the creature's attacks, she was forced back on the defensive. She was therefore quite relieved when moments later ice and fire battered the demon.

Jumping down to the street level, Mercury took a good look at the demon with her visor and computer. Not liking what she was seeing, she decided against the Shabon Spray. "Minna-san, the Shabon Spray is not going to work on this demon. It appears to be outfitted with some kind of night vision equipment and I am afraid that the cold mist of my spray would just make us even easier to see." She informed the others. Then seeing Neptune lying on the ground with a distraught Uranus beside her, Mercury knew where she had to go.

"Uranus, I will look after Neptune. Don't worry about anything. The best thing you could do right now is to destroy that demon." Mercury told Uranus as she arrived beside her.

"Hai." A reluctant Uranus replied, not really wanting to leave her love's side. Then, perking up a bit she spoke to the unconscious Neptune. "Don't worry love; I will make that demon pay for what it has done to you."

Stepping away from the injured Neptune, she began to walk towards the demon, her eyes aglow with anger. Knowing that her Earth Shaking wasn't going to cut it, she tried to reach down into her soul to pull out even more power. Gathering the energy into her hand, which quickly grew to many times its normal size, she tossed it with a cry of "Saber Wind Charge." As the energy rushed from her hand, it began to take the form of an ethereal cat of prey racing along as if it was the wind. If the size of the cat and its speed was not intimidating enough, the large razor sharp saber teeth in its mouth made sure to convey that it was not a house cat.

Sensing the approaching energy, the demon turned in time to see the cat charging at it. Moving quickly it noticed that the cat was adjusting its approach and was still gaining. Knowing that it was not going to be able to escape it decide on the second best option and charged back at the energy attack. Startled by the apparent suicidal run of the demon, the Senshi were caught unaware as it made a useless dash to the side, at least in regard to dodging the blast. But one that brought it in close to where Sailor Moon had just arrived. Grabbing a hold of her, the demon would have smiled if Mimete had given it those emotions as the anger fueled blast of Sailor Uranus reached its mark.

Sailor Moon had only felt a similar pain before a few times in her life as the energy ripped into her body and shredded her fuku. With her strength gone and her hair and wings burnt in places, she fell to the ground barely conscious.

Seeing the demon proceed to pick Sailor Moon up by a harsh grip on her neck, the others all dropped their hands to their sides as they conceded that the demon now had the upper hand. Deciding to make his entrance, Tuxedo Kamen threw a rose at the hand holding Sailor Moon. His aim proved to be as true as always and the love he held for Sailor Moon again was sufficient to cause the demon to release its prisoner. Swooping down he picked her up and jumped up away and promptly proceeded to drop her. He could only stare on in shock as she made a sickening thudding sound as she hit the ground before he slammed into the lamppost which he had been aiming for. It was not till he slid down to the ground that he realized that he had some problems, namely that he was now swimming in his clothing. And then the 4 year old mind caught up with the Chibified Tuxedo-Kamen and he began to cry.

"Okay, this ain't good." Sailor Jupiter said from where she had returned to the fight. "Not only can this demon kick our asses real good on its own, it also can turn as into little children."

"Well then, I guess we will just need to keep it too busy to think about playing with time." A final arrival said.

Turning to regard the new arrival, most of the Senshi looked on in shock while Pluto just groaned, knowing that more Sailor Sun became involved in things and the longer she stayed here the higher the chance that she would remain even after the demon was destroyed. Though, she did have to concede that their chances for actually killing the demon were substantially higher with Sailor Sun present.

"Aiimikun Plasma Bolt style." Sun called as she started firing off one plasma blast after the other. All of the still conscious Sailor Senshi watched in awe as her hands appeared to become nothing more than a blur.

"Kami-san, it's like a plasma cannon in that Doom game." Jupiter said

"Thank goodness she's on our side." Mars mumbled. Then turning to Pluto she asked, "She is on our side right?"

"Hai she is, though she is not from this reality and should vanish once the demon is defeated."

While they were talking, Sun just moved in on the demon, her blasts keeping it pretty well pinned in place as it tried to deflect the majority of their damage. Once she got in close enough to use her hands, she dropped her magic attack and moved to engage the demon in hand to hand combat. With a smile on her face as the demon defended itself, Sun realized that this demon actually appeared to know some martial arts and soon became lost in her match.

"Who is she? Is she even human? I didn't think it was possible to be that good even with our Senshi magic." Venus commented as she watched Sun go toe to toe with the demon and not give any ground.

"I'm the best martial artist in the world" a very confident Sailor Sun answered as she continued fighting.

* * *

From the sideline of the battle, Mercury tended to Neptune while keeping one eye on her visor in case the battle appeared to be coming back her way. She did not like what she saw in front of her one bit. The small bloody hole in the left breast of Neptune's fuku could have only been caused by only one thing – a bullet. Doing a quick scan of the area she located where the bullet had embedded itself after exiting Neptune's back.

Doing her best to bandage the entry and exit wounds, she was very glad of the incredible constitution that their Senshi nature gave them. Anyone else would have been killed by that shot. As it was, she was not sure if Neptune would survive if she got hit with by anything else. All of the girl's powers were going into keeping her alive while her body healed the wound. And then to accentuate that statement, Neptune's fuku flickered for a moment and then vanished.

There was only one option to do in this situation. As much as she would have liked to have waited for paramedics and a stretcher, she needed to get Michiru to a safe location. Hefting the larger girl up into a fireman carry she slowly began withdrawing from the area. Making it around a corner without attracting the attention of the demon, she released a sigh of relief. Now no longer needing to remain inconspicuous, she began to run. As she ran down the streets, she found the need to call upon her Shabon Spray more than once to keep those who had been time-displaced from giving her trouble. She decided against going up to the roof tops for two reasons. One was that she had learned her lesson about roof hoping when time was not stable from before and secondly she was not sure she would be able to manage it while carrying Michiru.

Arriving at the hospital where her mother worked, Mercury dashed through the emergency room entrance. Thankfully, the automatic door opened fast enough to let Mercury through, as she did not slow down her approach one bit and had even angled her body so that Michiru would not be hit by the broken glass if she had passed through the door itself.

* * *

The black belt that Mimete had included in the design matrix of the demon along with the military strategy books gave it a respect for a competent opponent and allowed it to enjoy a good spar. However, after sparing with Sailor Sun for fifteen minutes, it had had enough. Giving the signal for a break, it and Sun broke apart. Bowing to its sparing partner, the demon then approached Sun with one of its hands held out. Shaking Sun's hand, it suddenly dashed backwards.

Confused, Sun realized a moment later that there was something attached to her hand. Looking down, she had just enough time to see a white block with something sticking out of it before her world became white and she felt nothing put pain. Not knowing how her body was orientated or if she was even on the ground, she whispered "Akane" as she closed her eyes.

"That was uncalled for." Sailor Moon said as she returned to her feet. The moon Senshi looked very much the worse for wear with her battered body and a fuku that was nearly all shredded or burnt, but there was a fire in her eyes. Picking up a hubcap that had been knocked loose and lay beside her, she charged it with her power and set it flying at the demon. Hit by the super charged "tiara", the demon was knocked backwards and through a parked truck. Standing up amongst a pile of ramen it was barely in time to see attacks from Mars, Pluto, Uranus, and Jupiter coming from all directions. Deciding the only direction to go was up, the demon attempted to jump but fell quickly back to the ground. It was then that it noticed Venus who had a Cheshire cat smile on her face and realized that a chain was holding it to the truck. And then the attacks hit.

Staggering up from the devastation, the creature was definitely showing that it was worse for wear. However, the only Sailor Senshi that was able to quickly follow up was Sailor Moon; and so, she had thrown a second, though slightly less powerful "tiara" at the creature. Getting hit a second time, the demon decided it was time to bring out its unused weapon.

Catching the hubcap in preparation for a third throw, Sailor Moon felt a warm sensation on her wrist before suddenly it burst into pain. Dropping to her knees, she cried out and curled up into a ball while covering herself with her wings. With her wings shielding herself, the pain stopped increasing, though even at its current level it was unbearable. Whimpering to herself, she brought her hand in close and turned her arm so that she could look at the top of her wrist. She could see a quarter sized hole rimmed with charred fabric in her glove. The skin under it was very red, raw and was oozing fluids. Knowing that that was not good, she made use of what first aid that Ami had taught her in the past few weeks. Ripping off the ribbon on the front of her chest, she began to wrap it around the wound. The adrenaline surge used up, Sailor Moon collapsed to the ground barely remaining conscious.

Outside of her cocoon, the others had been motivated into even greater fury by her collapse. Calling on whatever energy they could, they began throwing their attacks left and right without any pauses. As it parried the attacks, the demon realized too late a lesson hard learned by all the Senshi enemies, the rage of seeing a friend cut down drives the Sailor Senshi to whole new levels of fighting abilities. And in this case, they suddenly were now able to keep it on the defensive, preventing it from using its laser again. Though at the same time, it took them all to maintain this situation and it knew they would soon tire again.

However, it had forgotten about Sailor Sun who while knocked out very badly had now returned to her feet. While this pounding was definitely the worst she had taken, she had been hardened enough from only slightly less severe attacks to not let this keep her down. Seeing Sailor Moon curled up on the ground, obviously having been the latest target of this demon, Sun's soul became consumed with anger.

With flames visibly dancing in her eyes, she began slowly walking towards the demon, leaving flaming foot prints with each step. Easily avoiding the attacks of the other Sailor Senshi, she stopped in front of the demon and quietly said, "Time for you to go down. Solar Flare."

A ring of fire quickly leapt up from around Sailor Sun, encompassing the demon. The fire continued on up past the roofs of the tallest building in the area, however the ring of fire remained only a meter wide. The other Senshi could only watch on in amazement at the power that Sun displayed as the inferno continued to burn.

Walking towards her princess, Pluto knelt down to check on her. "Your highness, are you okay?"

Looking up into the worried eyes of Pluto, Sailor Moon straightened her thoughts and slowly remembered what was happening. Then looking down at her hand, she clenched it for a moment before looking back at Pluto. "Hai, I am okay." She said with the confidence that always filled her when she knew she had to protect her friends. Accepting a helping hand from Sailor Pluto, she returned to her feet.

Given that she was only a couple meters away from the demon, she could easily feel the heat of Sailor Sun's attack. While part of her wanted to believe that nothing could survive that, she knew better. The attack was powerful, but this demon was even more so, it would survive and only be slightly injured. There was nothing that they could throw at it by themselves that they could even hope to injure it with. The only thing that might work would be her Eternal Tier, but she could not control its power.

Looking at her exhausted friends, she could see the hope in their eyes that this would be the end of the demon. She could not fail them. There was really no option about what she had to do, it might cost her her life, but if that was the price to save everyone else than so be it. She would use her Eternal Tier one last time, even if it took every ounce of her energy to control the spell.

Mars, Jupiter, Venus, and Uranus all turned to look at Pluto when they heard her gasp. Then following her gaze they saw that Sailor Moon or actually Usagi as she was again in her civilian clothes was holding her Eternal Tier.

"Odango-atama no baka, what do you think you are doing. You know that you can't use that tier anymore." Mars scolded.

"Hai, but it is the only option." Usagi replied. Then before they had a chance to object, she waved them off and explained. "Sailor Sun's attack won't be sufficient to destroy the demon. Only the Eternal Tier might be able to do that. There is still some energy that I haven't used before that I can use to make sure that the spell holds."

"What do you mean by… Iie! Usagi-chan you are not thinking of throwing your life away!" Jupiter said

"Iie, you are not going to do that." Mars said

"I'm afraid my friends that this is the only way." Usagi said in a tone that brokered no objections.

"Then we will lend you our powers." Venus stated.

"Hai that's right." Mars concurred and her concurrence was followed moments later by the concurrence of the rest of the Senshi.

Bringing her tier up into a ready position, the others all new it was time and they began to channel their powers. Feeling her soul come alive from the energy of the planets racing into the Ginzuishou, Usagi smiled even as the wall of flame vanished and Sailor Sun collapsed to the ground asleep. Some blocks away, Mercury felt the flow of energy and fell into a trance as she added her own power. Outside of a dinosaur damaged mansion, the soul of Saturn lowered the stasis field that was protecting its body and the one that its human half wanted to protect beyond anything else. Slowly becoming aware again, Hotaru noted that ChibiUsa was still clinging to her, before slipped into another trance as the symbol of Saturn once again glowed brightly on her forehead.

Forming the energy donated by her dear friends, Usagi began to sculpt the magic of the spell. Drawing on the power of the Moon, the power of the Ginzuishou, and the power of Tokyo, she knew that she would not have a problem casting the spell this time. And with a final flare, she unleashed the gathered energy at what was a probably smirking demon. The demon was not able to smirk for long though, as very quickly its essence was shredded into moon dust and then nothingness.

Falling to the ground on her face, Usagi was at least rewarded in seeing the eclectic collection of junk that made up the demon fall harmlessly to the ground, or at least mostly harmlessly as the remaining explosives choose that time to go off. For Sailor Sun, she was protected by the blast by no longer existing. Sailor Moon was close enough that she would have been seriously hurt by the explosion if it wasn't for Pluto's time sense causing her to drop down on top of her princess to protect her from the blast.

When everyone had cleared the ringing out from their heads and had returned to their feet, Pluto informed them that Sailor Moon was okay, before walking up to the pile of demon parts. They were all quite surprised by the number of items that had been tossed into make this demon and really hoped that Rubeus did not plan on making this a habit. Finding what she was looking for, Pluto knelt down and picked up a golden object.

"What is it Pluto-san?" Jupiter asked.

"It is one of my Crystal Time Keys." Pluto replied.

"You mean the thing that allowed ChibiUsa to come here to the past?" Venus asked.

"Hai, and I think I am going to need to have a talk with Small Lady."

* * *

In the basement of Mugen, Rubeus was not pleased. The device that matured the daimon eggs had been reduced to nothing more than rubble. With it destroyed, the ability to produce their demons had been severely reduced. The only way to finish maturing the eggs now was for the professor to carry out a delicate laboratory procedure. But that would take him away from his efforts to finish building the gateway that would release the Wiseman. Leaving the laboratory, he walked briskly to Eudial's office and threw open the door.

Hearing the clattering of her door being abused, Eudial looked up from the reports she was reviewing. "Rubeus-sama what can I do for you?" She asked in a nice but slightly ticked voice.

"Eudial-san, the Daimon machine has been destroyed."

"Are you sure? The professor might be making a modification to it? You know he is kind of haphazard in how he works."

"Hai, I am sure. The machine has been reduced to nothing more than rubble on the ground. This is no modification work by Tomoe."

"In that case, let's go check the security cameras for that laboratory." Eudial suggested, now getting a very bad feeling. If the machine was really destroyed, Rubeus's anger was not going to be settled till someone paid with their life. She just hoped that she would be able to find something on the security tapes that might direct his anger to somebody else; otherwise her life would likely be the one to settle his anger.

Getting up from her desk, Eudial led Rubeus to a back corner of her office. Given the sensitivity of the "experiments" that were being conducted in certain labs, the security cameras from those labs were run to her office instead of the school's security office. Finding the right machine, she popped out the duplicate tape and took it over to a VCR which she could review it in. Putting the tape in, she began to scan back through the tape looking for the last moment the machine was still in one piece. Before too long she found Mimete leaving the laboratory with a Daimon case in hand. Rewinding a bit farther, the two of them watched as Mimete overstressed the machine, destroying it by adding too many items into the incubator.

"Mimete." was all Rubeus said before he teleported.

With a sigh of relief from Rubeus's disappearance, Eudial went about duplicating the appropriate section of the tape. Taking a quick glance at the professor's calendar, she noted that he would be in lectures all afternoon. That would give her a few hours to prepare a preliminary report and Mimete's death certificate. She did not look forward to breaking the news to him, but breaking the news to him would be nowhere as bad as it was having had Rubeus in here. Plus she understood where his anger would came from, for she too was very upset that the cure to little Hotaru's sickliness would be delayed, possibly for a very long time.

* * *

A bit annoyed that her demon had been defeated by the Sailor Senshi, Mimete walked down the street back to Mugen. While she had not succeeded, she had on her first attempt done far better than Kaolinite had ever done. And she had done that without any of the powers that Rubeus had gifted Kaolinite. If she had had those same powers, she was sure the battle would have ended differently. There were quite a few times when one or more of the Sailor Senshi were out cold and vulnerable to an attack from another player. She figured there were be three more dead Sailor Senshi in addition to just Neptune. Well next time would be different and they wouldn't be so lucky.

Turning a corner she came to a sudden stop as Rubeus appeared in front of her. _ Guess they have already realized my greatness and have come to congratulate me on my mission. _ she thought to herself, missing the expression of murder on Rubeus's face.

"Mimete. You're failure is unforgivable." Rubeus stated.

"What you mean, failure? I know it wasn't a complete success, but I…" Mimete began in her defense. However, she did not get a chance to finish. Instead, her eyes went wide as black spheres of deadly energy shot through her stomach.

Letting the dead witch fall to the ground, Rubeus turned on his feet and began walking through the city. From his short search for Mimete he had noted that the city showed signs of some significant damage and he figured that he might as well see exactly how much damage she had caused. If it was substantial enough, he might feel slightly better how about how much trouble she had caused his efforts.

* * *

Once Mercury had determined that the doctors understood the nature of Michiru's wounds and that they would be able to take care of her, she had left the hospital. With Michiru in her civilian form, she had decided it best to let the doctors handle the situation themselves, so as not to give them any reason to think that Michiru was one of the Sailor Senshi. Later once Michiru was out of surgery and visitors were allowed she could return in her civilian form to check on her.

Shortly after she had left Michiru to the doctors, she had received a communication from the others that the demon had been defeated and the disturbance removed. Now no longer needing to meet up with the others, Ami walked aimlessly down the streets, her thoughts reviewing the battle. The whole afternoon had been quite strange with all the temporal problems, she was sure that she had even spotted Nephrite in his disguise and one of Jadeite's demons during the search, but there was something about the final battle that was bothering her subconscious. Trying to figure it out, she logically went through each of the participants in the battle trying to determine if they were the cause. For all of its uniqueness, the demon wasn't the one bothering her and neither was Pluto or Usagi. When she reached Uranus, she knew she had found the source. Thinking about what Uranus had done, she realized that it was the girl's new attack that her subconscious was bothered by.

Analyzing the attack in her mind, from what little she had seen of it, she remembered that it took the form of a cat, which in of itself was not too surprising. After all, Jupiter had her dragon and Mars had her phoenix. However, this attack seemed to almost have a will of its own, adjusting the path it took to the demon. While she supposed that the spell might have had a tracking component that possibility just seemed too complicated for a spell created on the spur of the moment by Uranus's emotions. And then there was the issue of how Mars and Jupiter's attack had recently reacted while they were taking out that trap of Rubeus's. Both Mars and Jupiter had reported that their attacks had taken on a life of their own.

Taking a momentarily notice of her surroundings, Ami realized that she had arrived at the entrance to the chapel of that priest Usagi had healed. _ Well Usagi did say that she has found answers to troubling questions when she had come here to think. Maybe I can receive some of that enlightenment. _ Ami thought before entering. Walking slowly into the sanctuary, she tried to let her body relax as Rei had been instructing her recently so that she could find the most opportune place to meditate.

"May I help you miss?" a man asked, startling Ami out of her thoughts. Spinning on her heals she reflectively dropped into a slight defensive posture as she turned to face her questioner. "Gomen-nasai warrior angel. I did not realize who you were at first. You looked like a tourist in need of a guide." The man, whom Ami now saw was a priest quickly added with much bowing when he got a good look at her.

"What do you mean by warrior angel?" Ami asked, hoping that he had not figured out that she was a Sailor Senshi and if he had, wondering how he had done it.

"I can tell by your aura that you are one of the warriors who serve the Messiah." Father Morgan explained answering the unspoken question as well.

Quickly reviewing in her mind what Usagi and Luna had told them of Father Morgan, Ami confirmed her initial fear that he was calling her a Sailor Senshi. As for someone being able to sense who they were just by their aura that was something she was going to need to talk to Luna and Rei about. This could pose a big problem if they ever had an enemy who was strong in the spiritual arts, though she wondered why Nephrite never had detected them. While his powers did not seem exactly spiritual, she would have thought them to be close enough, another question for her to ask Rei.

"I understand." Ami replied. "Don't worry about having disrupted me. I came here to try to figure out something that has been bothering me. And I have found tough problems are always easier when you have someone to talk to about them." Ami added with a smile.

Quite a many multitude of minutes later, Ami thanked the priest for his time. While he had been unable to shed any better light on the subject, after all Christianity tended to have a very negative attitude towards any magic and so even the priests knew very little, he had told her that the Vatican might be able to help. The upper levels of the Church, while forbidding any learning of magic by their flocks, did collect any and all records on the subject. After all, being ignorant of your opponent only made them that much worse. And so he had offered to send a request for information on to them and had assured her that the Vatican would be willing to provide their assistance.

Watching the blue haired girl leave, a shadow slipped out from its hiding place in the chapel. Cautiously and with all of its senses alert, it stepped outside the boundaries of the chapel. Pausing for a moment, it tried to detect anything that might be hunting it, but after multiple scans of the area it could find nothing. Satisfied that none of its enemies were in the area, it found its target once again and began stalking her.

Every now and then on her walk home, Ami would get the sense that she was being followed, but whenever she turned there was nothing behind her. A couple of times she had even retraced her steps a fair distance trying to find some hint of whatever was spooking her, but she could not. Finally deciding that it was just her nerves from the day's battle she continued on her way home.

* * *

Stirring a bit, ChibiUsa and Hotaru opened their eyes. At first neither wanted to move out of the embrace they were in, not wanting to give up the comfort that they were drawing from each other. But eventually, they turned their gaze from each others faces and looked around.

Taking in the destruction and the fact that they were now outside, ChibiUsa said, "I guess it was not all a bad dream."

"Hai." Hotaru said.

Releasing each other, the two girls stood up and looked around, checking to see if they could find any signs of the dinosaur. Seeing nothing, they heaved a heavy sigh of relief before heading back to the house.

"Guess I should go see if any of the rest of the house was damaged." Hotaru said as they entered.

And with that, the two of them began inspecting the various rooms. All of the bedrooms had nice gaping holes by one of their windows where the dinosaur obviously had poked its head in looking for a snack, though none of them as bad as Hotaru's room. The downstairs did not appear to show any dinosaur damage, but that was not to say it was undamaged. Walking into the kitchen, they found it trashed. It almost looked as if someone had taken a club to all of the appliances.

"Hotaru-chan, what time is your dad coming home?" ChibiUsa asked.

"Late, he and Eudial were going to be working late tonight." Hotaru replied, suddenly realizing that she was going to be the only one in this devastated house for quite a while tonight.

"Then why don't you leave your father a note and come spend the night at my house. I am sure that he'll understand why you didn't ask permission first and will be much happier having you with us than here." ChibiUsa offered.

"Hai, Arigatoo ChibiUsa-chan." A much happier Hotaru replied.

And with that, the two of them hurried up to her room and began to pack some stuff for the sleepover. Though as Hotaru got out her bags, the two of them realized that it probably would make sense for Hotaru to pack a few days worth of clothing; after all it was going to take a while to make the house livable again. Putting the last article of clothing into her bag and closing it, a second thought crossed Hotaru's mind and she went back to the hall closet to get another bag.

"What's that one for?" ChibiUsa asked

Hotaru did not reply, instead she began gathering some of her more treasured lights and a couple of other treasured items from around her room and placed them into the bag. Seeing what her friend was doing, ChibiUsa gave an "Oh" of understanding.

Finally packed, the two girls then proceeded to make their way down the stairs and out of the house. Locking the door behind her, Hotaru took one last look at her home before following ChibiUsa down the walk. Very quickly the two were very glad that Tomoe had purchased suitcases with wheels. It would have been impossible for the two of them to manage all of Hotaru's bags otherwise back to ChibiUsa's house.

After they had been walking for a while, ChibiUsa noticed that Hotaru was beginning to fall behind. Stopping she turned and asked, "Hotaru-chan are you okay there?"

"Hai I'm okay, just getting a bit tired."

"In that case then let us rest a moment." ChibiUsa offered as she sat down on top of the suitcase that was dragging. Arriving beside her friend, Hotaru followed suite, though in her case also leaning up against the side of the building that they were beside. The two of them rested there for a while, until a voice called out to them.

"Hey ChibiUsa-chan, where are the two of you going?" Haruka asked. She had been racing down the streets at breakneck speed heading to the hospital when she had spotted the pink hair of the munchkin out of the corner of her eye as she passed a side road. Making a quick U-turn, she had doubled back to check on the girl. While she wanted more than anything to be on her way to Michiru's side, she also was not going to forsake either of her princesses to do that.

"Hotaru's house and her neighborhood was trashed by something that looked like a Tyrannosaurus Rex. As a result, I offered to let her stay with me until her house gets fixed."

"That's nice of you ChibiUsa-chan. But why are you walking? Why didn't you call Tsukino-san to come get you?"

"Hotaru's phone's dead." ChibiUsa explained.

"Ah, I guess that would do it. Well then you two should hop in, I'll give you a lift." Haruka said as she popped her trunk and leapt out of the car to take care of the bags the two girls had been dragging. Then with the luggage loaded and a quick check to make sure the girls had their seatbelts fasten, she put the car in gear and raced off.

"Um, Haruka-san why are you driving so fast?" ChibiUsa asked.

"Michiru was badly injured by the demon." Haruka said, barely remembering that there was a non Senshi in the car.

"Oh" the two younger girls said.

Not long after that they arrived at the hospital. Parking the car, Haruka jumped out and raced into the hospital not waiting for the other two. Getting out of the car at more normal speeds, ChibiUsa and Hotaru headed into the hospital themselves. After finding out from the front desk where Michiru was recovering, the two of them headed to the older girl's room.

It was not till they arrived outside of the room, that ChibiUsa realized that if Michiru had been injured severely in battle that she might still be in her Fuku, in which case it was a big problem that Hotaru was here with her. But she could think of no way to bail on their visit to Michiru now. Hoping for the best, ChibiUsa opened the door and was immediately yanked up off the ground and into a bone crushing hug.

"ChibiUsa you're okay. I was so worried about you and Hotaru when Haruka said Hotaru's house had been damaged in the demon attack." Usagi said. Then releasing her daughter, she knelt down by Hotaru. "Hotaru-chan feel free to stay with us as long as you need." Then standing up, she moved out of the way so that the two of them could enter the room.

"How is she?" ChibiUsa asked.

"Not good, but she is at least stable." Mamoru said from where he was sitting off to one side of the room.

After Usagi had released her, Hotaru had taken a good look at her friend's cousin and was surprised to see the girl's black hair slightly blackened and looking all around the worse for wear. Then looking towards the bed that this Michiru lay in, Hotaru walked over. The other girls and Mamoru did not notice Hotaru's movement as they were busy discussing Michiru's condition in more detail. Looking at the older girl laying in the hospital bed, she saw where she had been injured. Not knowing what kind of injury it was, she placed her hand over Michiru's injury. Opening herself to her power, she began to probe the severity of the injury. Not liking what she felt, Hotaru began to direct her healing energy into the injury.

"Hotaru-chan what are you doing? You're too weak for that." Usagi asked in concern as she realized that Hotaru was over at the bed and trying to heal Michiru. Not getting a response, she rushed up beside the other girl, but stopped short of shaking her as she realized that Hotaru was in some kind of trance.

"What's happening?" Haruka asked.

Mamoru shrugged his shoulders, not having been told by Usagi about Hotaru's gift. However, ChibiUsa did know and she said, "Hotaru has the ability to heal others, but she is not strong. She tires easily and healing is even more so."

"Wha…" Michiru tried to croak out as she came to.

"Hold on a moment love, let me get a nurse first." Haruka said

Off to the side of Michiru, Usagi caught Hotaru as the young girl passed out. As she carried the younger girl over to one of the chair, she did note with relief that Hotaru's breathing appeared to be steady and even, which she took as a good sign. She had just finished sitting in the chair, cradling Hotaru in her lap when the nurse came in.

Seeing the incredulous look on the nurse that the patient was conscious already, Usagi decided to explain. "This girl here has the gift of healing and was able to use it on Michiru. I don't know how much she was able to do before she passed out, but you may want to reassess Michiru's condition again."

Nodding her understanding, but not believing it, the nurse went to take a look at Michiru's bandages. And sure enough the bullet wound had fully closed up. The only sign that something had happened was that the skin was pink in the area.

* * *

Lying down on her bed for a quick power nap before starting her studies, Ami drifted off to sleep. Sleep came very quickly, partially due to the exhaustion from the day's events and partially from having just heard that Michiru had been fully healed by ChibiUsa's friend. As her thoughts faded into dreamland, she was making a mental list of the various questions she wanted to ask Hotaru and what kind of scans she should do.

Very quickly after Ami's eyes had closed, her mind entered the dreamscape. She found herself standing beside what appeared to be a mountain spring in a coniferous forest. Looking up she saw that the night sky was not blemished by a single cloud and was clearer than anything she could remember having seen. _ I wonder if this is how the night sky looked before the onset of the industrial age. _ she thought to herself. Breathing in the clean mountain air, she turned to take in the rest of the area. Up near the forest she notice that there was a silver haired fox sitting on a large stone. While the hair was quite unusual, the two tails of the fox were even more so and for some reason she thought his eyes appeared to indicate intelligence.

"Yes little one, I am more than just a regular fox." The creature said in a delicate and light masculine voice.

"You're a kitsune?" Ami asked remembering one of her dad's paintings that she had really liked when she was little.

"Iie, not quite. Unlike a kitsune I am not constricted to upholding the spirit of my promises, only the letter."

"He's a not a spirit Ami, but a demon." A second voice, which sounded just like her own, said.

Turning to look at this new speaker, Ami saw a barely visible person that appeared to be her Mercury form. Confused, she tried to summon her transformation wand, but without success. Seeing her other half try to henshin, Mercury chuckled before explaining things. "Ami I am the Sailor Mercury part of your soul, while you are the human part. Here in your mind, the two of us manifest as distinct beings."

Understanding, Ami nodded her head in acknowledgement. "Then who is that?" she asked.

"An invader." was Mercury's reply.

"Very true spirit, your little one left her mind quite open for me and was such an inviting target. I would have to hazard that she has begun some training into the spiritual arts, but is neglecting the defensive elements to have left herself as open as she has." The fox said. Then turning to Ami, he addressed her. "Well little one I am going to give you a choice. I am quite weak right now and have many enemies out looking for me. Until recently I had taken refuge in the body of a little boy. Unfortunately, a couple of days ago he was killed when he chased a ball out into the street and got run over. And then in the moments of confusion after being forced out of his body, I was attack by other demons. I managed to escape and took refuge the past few days in that holy place while waiting to recoup enough energy before venturing out to find a new body to hide in."

"Why do you need a body to hide in? And how were you able to enter the chapel, I thought the holy protections would have kept you out." Ami asked.

The fox laughed in response to the later question. "Yes the wards, would have kept out most other demons and those that it did not keep out would have likely destroyed the place in breaking the wards. However, I am a master thief and finding the holes in the wards was but a simple task for me. As for why I want a human host, the injuries I have sustained were inflicted with a spirit poison that makes them very slow to heal, many of your years. And while being in a human body slows down the healing process even more, it does provide one major benefit, as long as I am asleep in my host, other demons can't detect my presence.

"Now as for that choice I was offering you. I can either kill you right now by consuming your human soul. The strength of your human soul is sufficient that it will heal the majority of my wounds by itself. The other option is for you to accept me into your mind and let me stay here while I recover."

"Ami, don't accept any of his offers." Mercury demanded. "If you accept him, not even the princess would be able to exorcise him."

"Yes but her only other option is to die now." The fox replied.

"What assurances do I have that you won't try to take control of me once you recover?" Ami asked.

"None, and in fact once I recover I will try to finish the possession.

"Why are you telling me this?" Ami asked.

"Because I am a fox. It would be no fun if I did not have the challenge of matching wits against you for the prize of you soul. I expect you to train and prepare yourself for when I am ready to fight you."

"If you win will you gain control of my Sailor powers?"

"Iie, your protector over there is the only one who can control them. I would only be able to use them if she decided to help me." _ Though there are many control spells out there and I am sure with some research I will be able to find one to bind Mercury to my will, but she doesn't need to know that. _

"Why are you even giving her this option? Why not take her soul now and heal your body? The challenge of the fight can't be all it. I am sure there are other things you want to do than spend years asleep in the back of her mind?" Mercury asked.

"Simple, she looks to be a good adversary and I haven't had one of those in centuries. Just by what I was able to see in the chapel, the little one here is quite intelligent and now that I am in here I can see a cunningness that she has had in the past." the fox replied before thinking to himself, _ And even if I had been in a new body to hide in, I would have jumped into this one. I could not let such a prize of a being remain as vulnerable as she was. It was only a matter of time before she was attacked by another demon. Now with me here, I can protect the little one until she has learned the defensive wards. _

"I'll accept you into my mind on one condition, that you tell me your true name."

"Ami, Iie! I told you not to accept his offer." Mercury shouted.

"I know, but as he said this was really the only option. At least for a short while more I will still be able to protect Usagi. And there is always the chance that I might be able to hold him off when he awakes."

"You do know that it won't be just one attack. The demon will try to take control of your mind every day for the rest of your life until you get strong enough to drive him away or he succeeds." Mercury explained. While eventually she would have the power to help Ami drive away this demon, she knew it would take decades if not longer for her to have the strength to manifest as something more than just a spirit form here in Ami's mindscape.

"Hai I know." Ami said softly. Then she turned to the fox demon, her body posture showing her acceptance.

"In that case, the deal is sealed." The fox demon said. "As for my name, I am the demon Youko." With that said, the demon dropped down from the upright perch it had held the entire time on the stone, to just laying on the stone as it curled up and prepared to drift off to sleep. "Oh one thing little one, please try to not get yourself killed." And with that Youko closed his eyes and fell asleep. Soon after that, the dreamscape faded away as Ami fell into a dreamless slumber.

* * *

While Ami was getting some rest in before starting her studies, Usagi, Haruka, Michiru, ChibiUsa, Pluto, Hotaru (Mamoru having had to head home to study after they left the hospital) were currently enjoying ice-cream Sundays at the crown fruit parlor. While, Haruka would have preferred Michiru to be at home resting some more, even though ChibiUsa's friend had supposedly fully healed her, she didn't want to take any chances, she shared Michiru's desire to repay this young girl. It had been hard to get Hotaru to accept any form of gratitude. The solution had only appeared when ChibiUsa had suggested that Haruka and Michiru treat the two of them to ice-cream. Hotaru seemed to be okay with accepting a food reward and even more so when she was not the only one getting it. If the hospital had been a bit faster in releasing Michiru; they had a hard time believing that Hotaru could heal people by touch, you would think that might be more open minded given that Michiru was brought in by a Sailor Senshi; Haruka and Michiru would have treated the two girls to dinner at a good restaurant. As it was, dinner was purchased in the hospital cafeteria while tests were being run on Michiru.

"So Hotaru-chan what do you want to do when you grow up?" Haruka asked. When she saw that the little girl appeared to be embarrassed, she added, "Don't worry about saying what your dream is. There is no foolish dream if it is something that you really want to do."

"Hai," Hotaru mumbled, "I want to run a marathon."

"That's no dream to be a shamed of." Michiru replied.

"But I will never be healthy enough."

"Of course you will. You just have to put your mind to it. And I definitely approve of your dream." Haruka said.

Elsewhere in the parlor, a figure smiled as she spied her target. Aluminum Siren really had done her homework in shadowing all of Sailor Moon's movements before making her play. Smiling to herself, she approached the table. Noticing five other girls at it she figured that at least three and maybe four of them were also Sailor Senshi. That would complicate things a bit, but she figured the surprise of them finding out that she was still alive would tip the scales enough in her favor. Plus they were seated at a booth, much harder to get up from. Noticing the arrival of someone at the end of their table, the group looked up not recognizing her. Lead Crow smiled to this, so much the better that they didn't yet know her civilian identity.

"Well unfortunately that idiot Sailor Tin Nyanko had to ruin my perfect trap for you Sailor Moon; but don't worry, I am still going to take your star seed." Sailor Lead Crow announced as she discarded her disguise.

Usagi's eyes and those of the other Senshi became wide when the stranger addressed Usagi as Sailor Moon. Pluto's heart almost skipped a beat as the stranger revealed herself to be one of Galaxia's animates. _ None of them are ready for this. How could Galaxia already be here? _ Pluto thought quickly to herself. _ Wait she is implying she already tried something and that Tin Nyanko ruined it. The black hole that has to be it. _ Not that that realization did anything to take make the immediate problem better, but it did mean that she didn't have to worry about the rest of Galaxia's attack yet.

While Pluto was trying to figure out how Sailor Lead Crow could be here, and the others were getting over the shock of having Usagi addressed as Sailor Moon and by an enemy no less, Sailor Lead Crow attacked. Golden spheres of energy shot out of her arm bands at Usagi. Moving quickly to protect her princess, Haruka kicked the table up and into the line of fire, deflecting the soul stealing orbs away.

Not knowing what was going on, but realizing that her best friend's cousin was in trouble; Hotaru grabbed a hold of Usagi and pulled her down and out of the way of a second attack by Lead Crow. By this time, Pluto, Uranus, and Neptune had all henshin and were moving in to attack Lead Crow. Seeing them come, she hit them with one of her own attacks, throwing the first two back into another booth. Pluto for her part had managed to dodge out of the way of the attack, but found she was not in a position to counter attack.

By this time Usagi had regained her senses. Standing up, she grabbed a hold of both her daughter and Hotaru. Letting go of her glamour she unfurled her still singed wings. Jumping over the seat she had been on, she raced towards the exit. Seeing her target trying to escape, Lead Crow moved to intercept and unleashed a couple more of Galaxia's soul spheres. Seeing four more of the glowing orbs coming her way, Usagi changed course and dived over the counter and into the serving area of the fruit parlor. She did not know why, but something inside of her told her that just letting one of those sphere hit her would be a very bad thing.

The leap was not the most elegant and she ended up rebounding off the back wall to land at the base of the counter with a thud. She had enough forward momentum that when she hit the counter a stack of cones were knocked loose and after wobbling back and forth for a few minutes, they fell down on top of her and the two girls. Unlike other falls, she did not feel the least bit winded from the beating she had taken, which was especially surprising considering she was still recovering from the beating earlier in the afternoon. Looking down she realized why, Hotaru was using her healing powers.

"Arigatoo, Hotaru-chan. Between the two of us, we'll let get out of here." Hotaru replied with a smile.

_ Well if the door won't work there is always the second option. _ Usagi thought to herself. However, she first needed a distraction. Looking around she found one. Letting go of the two girls for a moment, she reached out and grabbed one of the serving trays. Then standing up, she quickly located the enemy and with a call of "Moon Tiara Action." She sent the improvised discuss flying.

"And what good do you think a tray is going to do, Sailor Moon?" Lead Crow chastised. However, when she tried to bat the tray away it exploded into a shower of moon dust.

Smiling that her planned had worked, Usagi quickly grabbed a hold of the two children again and then leapt back over the counter. Running as fast as she could, she stole a quick glance behind and saw that Lead Crow had recovered from the momentary distraction. Thankfully, Lead Crow did not appear to realize Usagi's plan as indicated by the smile that Lead Crow had, obviously believing that she had her prey cornered.

Looking up to where Usagi was now carrying them, Hotaru realized that they were fast approaching a window and furthermore that Usagi was not slowing down. Instead, she appeared to be trying to run faster with each step. Letting out a scream of fear, she covered her face with her hands just before Usagi jumped and did a summersault so that the group passed through the window with Usagi's back breaking the glass. The spin continued until Usagi was once again facing the direction of fall and it was at this point that she straightened her wings. However instead of putting them out to provide lift, she kept them in close to her back as she let them fall faster and faster. Finally as Hotaru was deciding that she was going to die for real today, Usagi unfurled wings and caught the air. Lofted up, the three of them sped away from the Crown Arcade. Unsure of where would be safe, Usagi just headed off in a random direction into the night.

* * *

Having finished his tour of the city, Rubeus was just passing by the Crown Arcade and Fruit Parlor when he heard a window above him shatter. Looking up he was surprised to see Neo-Queen Serenity carrying the rabbit and that child of the Tomoe jump out of the just shattered window. Realizing that something must be happening upstairs and also knowing for sure that it could not be one of his demons, he decide to go take a look. First he just teleported outside of the windows and saw Pluto, Uranus and Neptune facing off against some other warrior and from the looks of it it looked like they were loosing.

Inside Pluto thought to herself, _ This is not good, Lead Crow is just too powerful for the three of us to defeat. Without their talismans, Uranus and Neptune are no match for her. And if we don't kill her, she can just attack the princess again at any time. There is only one option left. Figures that time would find away to keep me away from this final battle yet again. _ as she came to a decision.

Stopping, Pluto tapped her staff into the ground holding it perfectly vertical in front of her body. Noticing the change in action of their partner, Uranus and Neptune paused in their attacks. "Ah, I see that you have finally decided to give in." Sailor Lead Crow gloated.

"Hai, you are too powerful for us to out right defeat, but there is another option." Pluto replied. "By the power of the talismans, we can summon the Holy Grail." As Pluto continued, Uranus and Neptune found themselves suddenly pulled to form the other two points in an equilateral triangle. And then as lines of energy connected the three of them, a glow came from within their chest as their pure heart crystals were extracted. The two of them looked on in surprise as they recognized that they contained the talismans that they had been searching for. Both of them then turned to look at Pluto confused as to why she had sent them on this search for the talismans if she had know that they had carried them all this time. "And by the power of the Holy Grail, the Soldier of Death and Rebirth can be summoned from her eternal sleep." As she said this the talismans exited the pure heart crystals, which then proceeded to return to their owners bodies while the Garnet Orb lifted off Pluto's staff. The talismans then proceeded to be connected by their own lines of power, lines which also extended up to form the peak of a triangle where the Holy Grail formed.

Walking forward, Pluto took a hold of the Grail, feeling its power course through her blood. Reaching out her staff, the Garnet Orb reattached itself. Then releasing the grail she walked closer to Lead Crow. "The Holy Grail is sought by those hungry for power as its power is the ability to amplify magic." Pluto said continuing her explanation. Then smiling, she raised her staff high in the air and said one word "Stasis!"

With the word spoken, the Garnet Orb unleashed a bright flash of light, blinding all in the room. When they could see again, Pluto and Sailor Lead Crow were frozen in place. Walking forward, Uranus cautiously tapped Sailor Lead Crow.

"Weird she now feels like stone, I wandered what Pluto did?" Uranus asked.

Bringing the mirror she was now holding up so that she could look at the two of them, Neptune examined what the mirror was showing her. She was not quite sure what this mirror did, but some memory from the Silver Millennium told her that it could shed the light on the answers. "I think Pluto has frozen time for the two of them, placed them into a stasis field. As long as they are like that we can't do anything to them, but neither can this Sailor Lead Crow do anything else." She explained.

"Well it looks like the day wasn't a total waste." A gloating voice said from behind the two.

Spinning the two Senshi exclaimed, "Rubeus!" Both of them suddenly having their stomachs drop through their feet. Somehow they had missed his arrival and as a consequence he was now holding the Holy Grail, the object that they had been trying to keep him from getting.

"I have to thank the four of you for providing me with such a nice present. As a token of my gratitude let me give you something as well." And with that he snapped his fingers.

"I don't think so Rubeus we already found those hidden energy collectors of yours." Uranus smirked.

"Oh you have did you?" Rubeus replied with a surprisingly confident tone. "Now did you find all of them or just half of them, I wonder?" And with that he vanished.

Sailor Uranus and Neptune both exchanged knowing looks that they had been had.

* * *

Flying across the city, Usagi suddenly felt a pain in her chest. Loosing her strength, her wings could no longer support her and gave away. Plummeting to the ground, she held tight to the two girls as she silently prayed that they wouldn't be killed by the fall.

"Momma!" ChibiUsa cried knowing something was wrong with Usagi. If she could have, she would have pivoted around so that she could hug her mother, but she couldn't.

Realizing also that something had happened to Usagi, Hotaru grabbed a hold of the arm holding her. There was no fear in her body as she summoned all of her energy and began channeling it as fast as she could into the older girl.

Feeling a little strength return to her body, Usagi was able to catch a little bit of the air. Not enough to keep them airborne, but it was enough to deflect their rate of decent slightly so that they were now angling towards a tree. Smashing into one tree and then another and then quite a few more the three finally came to rest on the ground.

Once again, Usagi had managed to rotate her body so that she had hit the ground back first protecting the two girls. As the group came to a stop, ChibiUsa was the only one who was able to move around a few minutes later. Opening her eyes, she first rolled over to check on her mother and was relieved to feel Usagi's chest rising and falling. Then looking over at her friend she saw Hotaru was lying beside Usagi, but could not tell if the other girl was okay.

Crawling over Usagi, she inched closer to Hotaru. Getting close enough she laid a hand on the other girl's chest and released a sigh of relief when she was able to feel the steady rise and fall. Then looking up to black haired girl's face, her mouth widened into a smile as she saw that Hotaru's eyes were now open.

"Hotaru-chan are you okay?" ChibiUsa asked

"Hai, I think so. Just tired. So Usagi's your mom." Hotaru replied in a tired voice.

Deciding not to lie to her friend, ChibiUsa said, "Hai, she is."

"You must be really proud of her." And with that Hotaru slipped back asleep.

"I am." ChibiUsa said. Then adjusting her position so that she was lying comfortably on her mother, she reached over and pulled Hotaru up into her arms and gave in to the desire for sleep as well.

End Chapter

* * *

-Those of you who are Yu Yu Hakusho fans will have caught the reference with the name of the fox demon being Youko (Kurama). The personality of the fox demon will share some elements in similarity to Youko, but it won't be Youko.

-The appearance of Sailor Sun is a homage to Fire, BugerBill and KHammel for their Sailor Ranko stories. In particular it is "Sailor Rank: The harder they fall" from which Sun got yanked. Thankfully for Ranma, the yanking recharged her energy reserves.

-For those who may be wondering why Ryo's vision of when Rubeus was going to spring his trap differed, well there was the slight issues of having a demon mucking up time and of course the magnet of Chaos Ranma Satome present. Plus things had already been changed with them finding half of the energy collectors. Of course the real reason is that in writing the chapter, I decided this work better.

-Well here is Christmas / Chanukah gift to those readers who wrote asking that I get this chapter out sometime this millennium. For the most part the chapter just flowed, giving me a fair number of late nights when I couldn't pull myself away from the keyboard. Though, it doesn't quite have the comedy elements that I had wanted, but oh well. But I did get to drop in Ranma there for a little while, so all is good.

-And while this book is coming to a close soon (just a few more chapters), I have now written myself into definitely doing the third book. I wonder how many people caught the scene which is the cause for the third book. Its not a major scene and nor is the element brought forth in that scene going to be really significant in book 3, its just that I won't be able to explore that topic till the third book. And no, Sailor Lead Crow is not the source of book 3, she has been fated to appear here for quite a while.

-For those who are wondering about the movies, I may be integrating them into the third book. This book is quickly reaching its climax point, so my ability to drift is severely restrained.


	35. The Messiahs of Light and Dark

**The Fragility of Time**  
**BOOK TWO: "Falling Towards Apotheosis"**  
**The Fragility of Time BOOK TWO: "Falling Towards Apotheosis"**  
**Chapter 35: The Messiahs of Light and Dark**  
**Author: etj4Eagle**  
Email:  
  
Lasted Edited: 1/22/05

Disclaimer: A reminder I own none of the characters of this story, all rights are owned by others. However, the unique circumstances of the story are mine. If you distribute the story, do only so freely and inform me of where you post it.

The afternoon had been a long one for Eudial, having had spent it shifting through the remains of the Daimon incubator to see if any of it was salvageable. While a good amount of the structural steel was still good, many of the more sensitive and hard to come by parts had been destroyed and would have to be replaced. Now sitting at her desk with a bowl of instant ramen, she began to pull the necessary files for replacing those items. As she worked, she hoped that Hotaru was okay; apparently Mimete's mess had resulted in the telephone switching office that serviced Tomoe-sensei's house being destroyed. Or at least that was what the telephone company said when she called them after being only able to get a recording telling her that the Tomoe line was out of service As plodded through this initial paperwork, she hoped that she would be able to finish it up within the next hour so that she would be able to return home and check on Hotaru.

Hearing the door to her office open, Eudial looked up. _ Is it that late already that the review session is over? _ she thought to herself figuring that her visitor was Tomoe-sensei himself. However, to her displeasure she saw that it wasn't, instead it was Rubeus.

Not wasting any time, Rubeus demanded, "Eudial-san where is Tomoe-sensei?" as he entered her office.

Any fears that Eudial might have had with respect to the Mimete incident evaporated as she saw that he appeared to be in a very good mood, not that that made her feel really any safer. Just that it meant that she wasn't likely to be killed in a fit of rage in the next few moments. So now relaxing from how she had instantly tensed up upon his arrival, she said, "Tomoe-sensei is conducting a physics prelim review right now. He will be done in an hour."

"Then it looks like the review is over. What room is he in?"

"105" Eudial replied, not wanting to get on Rubeus's bad side by suggesting that he wait. If he was happy, she was going to do all that she could to make sure he stayed that way.

Without a word of thanks, he spun on his feet and left the office. Walking down the hallway, he took the stairs up from the basement level. He was almost tempted to directly teleport to the classroom, since with the Grail there was nothing those pesky Sailor Senshi could do to him. However, he barely restrained himself and decided it was better to avoid giving them too much of a heads up on the final element of his plan. Arriving at the classroom he threw open that door and entered.

"… and when you pass light through a converging lens you get a…" Tomoe trailed off in the middle of his optics lecture as he saw Rubeus enter his classroom. "Pardon me a moment minna-san." Tomoe said to his class before walking to where Rubeus was standing. Once he arrived by Rubeus he asked, "Rubeus-sama what brings you to my humble classroom?"

Rubeus's only reply was to hold the Grail out to Tomoe and to smile. Seeing the Grail, Tomoe's face did not take long to brighten up into a similar smile.

"You've found it! With this, I will be able to open the portal without any more modifications to the system." Tomoe eagerly exclaimed and then turning to the class he said, "Minna-san, I am afraid that something has come up, so I am going to have to end this review session now. Since I will otherwise be occupied tomorrow, I will have Eudial-san conduct a review session for you tomorrow during class and we'll push back that prelim by one day. Anyone have an issue with that?"

None of the students raised their hands in protest over having another day to prepare for their exam as well as getting a free hour that evening. And so instead, they just smiled and quickly collected their books and filed out of the classroom.

Returning to Rubeus he said, "Come let's go conduct our experiment."

As the two of them walked out of the classroom, Rubeus said "Tomoe-sensei, I have some additional good news. In addition to the Grail, I have secured a large short term supply of strong magical energy from around Tokyo that you can use as well."

"That's very good Rubeus-sama. We are going to need that energy to quickly mature the rest of the Daimon eggs to hold off any trouble that our opening of the gateway might draw. I'm fearful that many might react the wrong way to the gateway and act without thinking."

The rest of the walk down to the basement was accompanied by Tomoe mumbling to himself as he began running through the various final items that he had to take care of and the various checks that he would need to run. Ignoring the professor's ramblings, Rubeus instead focused on the pending arrival of the Wiseman. He knew the Wiseman was going to be quite pleased with what had been accomplished and while he expected that Sailor Moon was still hanging onto life, the Wiseman's arrival would fix that.

As they reached the basement floor, the twosome took a detour by Eudial's office. Stepping inside, Tomoe instructed her to locate his daughter so that she could be healed and to instruct the remaining members of the Witches 5 to come to the lab.

* * *

"Now did you find all of them or just half of them, I wonder?" those had been Rubeus's parting words before he had vanished.

Instantly realizing that they had been setup, Uranus practically ripped the communicator off her wrist as she hit the panic button. Within ten seconds faces for all the other Senshi except for the two Moon Senshi had appeared.

"Another demon attack? Uranus where are you?" Minako asked as soon as she activated her link.

"Hai, but Pluto's taken care of that for a moment, that's not the reason why I am contacting you. We have been had. Rubeus expected us to find those energy collectors; he has planted a second set."

"Nani-ka?" the others all exclaimed.

"Now it makes sense, that's why Rubeus did not have them booby trapped. Those were sacrificial." Ami said.

"Um minna-san, why isn't Usagi or ChibiUsa on the link?" Jupiter asked.

"Iie it can't be, she can't be dead." Rei insisted, not wanting to accept what the absence of Usagi suggested.

"Rei lets not jump to any conclusions." Ami said.

"Hai, when we last saw Usagi, she was flying out of the Crown Fruit Parlor carrying ChibiUsa and Hotaru. If something had happened to her we would expect ChibiUsa to have already alerted us." Neptune said.

"Ah, why was she carrying Hotaru and ChibiUsa?" Minako asked.

"We'll explain later." Uranus said, knowing that right now the battle was not relevant to the issue at hand.

"So she's at Hotaru's house, and the two of them can't answer their communicator. I guess that makes sense." Rei figured.

"That might be true. But, Neptune you said she was flying right." Ami asked

"Hai."

"Then there is another possibility. If the power loss occurred while she was flying." Ami began

And the others finished with, "Then she might have crashed." which was an option that also would explain why ChibiUsa had not contacted them – she was injured as well.

"Neptune, Uranus do you know which way Usagi was going." Venus asked.

"Iie she was just trying to get away from here as fast as possible and I don't think she stayed flying the same course she left on, or at least she didn't if she was smart. The new enemy that suddenly appeared here was gunning specifically for her." Uranus replied. "Oh and we have another problem. In order to deal with this enemy, Pluto had to seal her away in a stasis field. This required the power of a very powerful artifact, the Holy Grail, which that bastard Rubeus now has."

"How did Rubeus get a hold…"Makoto began but was cut off by Minako

"We can worry about that later. With Rubeus choosing now to set off his trap and also having possession of that artifact, he must have something major planned. We need to find Usagi and take out the rest of these energy collectors now so that we can stop whatever he has planned."

"Hai." The others all agreed.

"In that case minna-san henshin yo." Minako instructed.

"So how do we go about finding Usagi?" Jupiter asked once the transformations were finished. And with that they quickly began planning their search strategy.

* * *

"Owie, what did I hit my head on?" Usagi mumbled as she began to stir. Feeling very lethargic, Usagi wanted to do nothing more than to drift back off to sleep. But her back felt like it was on fire and she knew sleep would not come again. Wondering why her back was in so much pain she became aware of some warm bodies pressed up against her chest. Now really opening her eyes and taking in her surroundings, she directed her gaze down along her body and found two girls curled up against her stomach. Seeing them, she thought _ Hotaru and ChibiUsa. _ happily to herself as a warm feeling spread through her body.

Moving her right arm so that she could wrap it around the two children, Usagi relaxed for a few moments more. Seeing the two of them asleep as they were pushed her own pain out of her mind for the moment. With a smile still on her face, she began looking around, trying to remember how they had ended up in a grove of trees. And slowly the memories of the battle at the Crown and the resulting flight across town came back to her. But neither of those explained why they had crashed or why she was feeling so tired right now. _ That's right, I suddenly felt very drained while I was flying and then we crashed. _ Usagi realized, figuring out the missing piece of the puzzle. _ Though why am I feeling so drained right now? Maybe I'm getting sick? Wohoo no school tomorrow. _ Usagi thought with a smile, hoping that to be the reason and also knowing that she would need to see Mizuno-san and Ami-chan for a checkup in the morning.

Having figured out what all that had happened, Usagi turned her gaze back to her two charges. Now noticing that it was getting quite late out, she knew that as much as she really didn't want to get up, they needed to head home. _ But when I get home we can then take a nice relaxing bath in the furo and there will be a nice warm bed instead of this hard ground. _ she thought to herself as she began to become aware of the pain in her back again.

Using the arm that was wrapped around the two girls, she softly shook the two of them. Then seeing their eyes open, she asked them, "Hotaru-chan, ChibiUsa, are the two of you okay?"

"Uhh, what happened?" ChibiUsa moaned as she began to come to.

Beside ChibiUsa, Hotaru gave a quiet little moan as she too awoke and then looking around blinked her eyes a few times as she tried to make sense of what had just happened. Things had been going so smoothly, she was having a good time with ChibiUsa's cousin's friends and was once again beginning to look on her talent as maybe a gift instead of a curse. That was when all hell broke loose. There was that strange woman who accused Usagi of being Sailor Moon, which had been borne out shortly after with Sailor Senshi revealing themselves. Then in the midst of a terrifying battle, Usagi had taken her and ChibiUsa in her arms and jumped out of a window, it was then that she had learned that Usagi had wings and could fly. With a smile, Hotaru remembered how after the initial bit of fright, she had come to quickly enjoy that thrill. Of course that was before they had suddenly plummeted to the ground. Finishing her review of what had happened; Hotaru looked up at Usagi and replied, "Hai, I'm okay. Are you?" concerned over whatever had caused Usagi to go down.

"Hai, I think so. I'm just very tired for some reason. And no don't worry about healing me; you have already done enough for today with Michiru and then during the battle." Usagi said waving off the attempt at healing that was bound to come. Then with a smile she asked, "However, the two of you could help me get up."

"Hai," both ChibiUsa and Hotaru energetically replied as they bounded off Usagi and helped her up, both of them instantly forgetting about their own injuries.

"Okaa-san you don't look good" ChibiUsa stated after finally getting a good look at her mother.

"Hai, my back is killing me and I am feeling even worse than I did at auntie Misaki's. My crescent moon is visible isn't it?"

"Hai," ChibiUsa replied.

"Was afraid so, I'll have to ask Ami what's happening." Usagi said. "Come let's get out of the woods."

At first Usagi tried to walk unassisted, but after stumbling with every step, ChibiUsa and Hotaru finally forced her to accept some assistance. While it was not easy, given the relative size difference between the two of them and her, they managed to find a way to help her walk. As they moved slowly through the wooded area of the park, Usagi spoke to Hotaru. "Hotaru-chan I know you must have a lot of questions about this evening. When we get back to the house, I will answer all that you have. You need not worry about knowing that we are Sailor Senshi, I trust you."

"Arigatoo Usagi." Hotaru said thanking Usagi as an unformalized worry that she had was laid to waste.

Sometime later the group finally reached the edge of the park. Just as they were about to step out from behind the last of the trees, Hotaru pointed out that they had a slight problem – Usagi being quite a draw with her wings visible. Of course the two of them were not much more inconspicuous given the dirt all over their clothes and the occasional twig in their hair, but at least that could be passed off as them having been a bit rambunctious in the park. After discussing the problem for a minute, Usagi gave Hotaru some money so that she could run into a nearby store and pick up a light jacket and a baseball cap for Usagi to wear.

Leaving ChibiUsa with Usagi, Hotaru went into the store. She had seen how torn her friend was between leaving Usagi, her mother, and coming with her, so Hotaru had suggested to ChibiUsa that she stay to look after Usagi. Shaking her head, Hotaru wondered how Usagi could be ChibiUsa's mother. _ But if Usagi could fly, then why not? _ she thought to herself with a smile. Noticing the odd looks she was getting from the others in the store, Hotaru hurried to an appropriate rack and selected the first jacket that appeared to be of the right size. Then grabbing a baseball cap, she went to pay. Accepting the purchases back, a thought came to her and she asked the cashier as to the location of a pay phone.

"Moshi moshi." came Ikuko's response as she picked up the phone.

"Moshi moshi Tsukino-san, this is Hotaru."

"Hotaru-chan is everything okay? We were getting a bit worried about you, ChibiUsa, and Usagi."

"Iie, Usagi is not feeling very well and ChibiUsa and I have to help her to walk."

On the other end of the phone, Ikuko gave a slight sigh of relief. She had been very worried every since Mamoru had called them ten or so minutes earlier greatly agitated. He had suddenly felt his link with Usagi fade to such a degree that he was no longer able sense her presence. And while based on Hotaru's description it sounded like something was probably very wrong with Usagi, at least she was alive and that was all that mattered to the mother right now. "Hotaru-chan, tell me where the three of you are and I will send Kenji to go pick you up." And so after telling Ikuko where the three of them were, Hotaru returned to where she had left ChibiUsa and Usagi.

Usagi looked up from where she had been lightly dozing against a tree as ChibiUsa announced Hotaru's return. Giving the black-haired girl a smile, she accepted the jacket and cap and put them on. Then seeing a slightly guilty look on Hotaru's face, she asked the younger girl what the matter was.

"Gomen Usagi, but I didn't think you would be able to make it back to your house by yourself so I called your mom. She is having your dad come over here to meet us. I didn't tell them what happened only that you weren't feeling well."

"Don't worry about it Hotaru. Guess I should have told you this while we were walking here, but my parents know about me and ChibiUsa, so you don't have to worry about hiding anything. Though I guess your limited explanation might help keep my mom from freaking too much before we get home."

Hotaru smiled at that, relieved that she hadn't done anything wrong. With that taken care of, the group of three moved out to a nearby park bench to wait for the arrival of Usagi's father. It was about ten minutes later, that Tsukino Kenji drove up in the family car and three of them got in for the drive home.

"What happened to the three of you?" Kenji asked.

"I don't know, I was flying and then lost all of my strength. Hopefully I am just getting sick" Usagi explained.

"Have you told Ami about this?" Kenji asked.

"Iie, I haven't seen her since we fell."

"How about your communicator, or did you damage it in the fall?" Kenji asked

"Usagi no baka." ChibiUsa chided her mother as Usagi let her head fall and bounce as she realized she had forgotten that she had a communicator which she could have used to call for help.

Activating her communicator she was surprised to be barraged by a bunch of Senshi happy that she was okay. It took a while for her to get the story out of them regarding Rubeus's trap, following which she explained what had happened to the three of them. With the immediate crisis of locating Usagi over, the communicator conference turned to how best to find and destroy the additional energy collectors. Keeping a quick pace of action, the Senshi quickly decided to pair of Uranus with Neptune, Mars with Venus, Jupiter with Mercury and Tuxedo Kamen with Ryo while Usagi and ChibiUsa returned to the Tsukino household so that Usagi could rest.

"Don't worry momma, they'll get those energy collectors soon and then you'll have all your energy back." ChibiUsa said from the back seat as she tried to wrap her arms around the seat in front of her so that she could hug Usagi.

The ride home thankfully was short and then the two young girls were headed into the house, while Kenji helped his daughter walk in. Entering the house, ChibiUsa and Hotaru came to a halt as they saw Eudial having tea with Ikuko. After getting over their initial shock they both realized that the shouldn't be surprised to see Eudial here; after all they had left a note saying this was where Hotaru was going to be spending the night. And with that they slipped off their shoes and continued into the house.

"Konnichiwa Eudial-san." Hotaru said as she greeted the older woman.

"It's good to see that you are okay after that attack on the house Hotaru-chan." Eudial replied with genuine happiness in her eyes. "I was so worried about you when I saw the house and how badly it was damaged. You father will be happy to learn that you are okay. I have been talking with Tsukino-Ikuko while we have been waiting for the three of you to get home and we both agree that it would be best for you to stay here while the house is repaired."

"Arigatoo." Hotaru said to Eudial. And then turning to Ikuko she gave the woman a large bow and said, "Arigatoo Tsukino-san for letting me stay here. I am sorry that ChibiUsa and I didn't have the opportunity to ask you before now."

"Don't worry Hotaru-chan. I am happy to have you here. Now the three of you look like you have seen some better days so why don't you all head upstairs and take a bath.

"Hai!" the three girls said.

"Oh, Hotaru, before you go. You father wants to see you to come by Mugen around ten tomorrow morning; he thinks he has the cure to your illness ready." Eudial said.

"Really?!" Hotaru asked, not believing her ears.

"Hai." Eudial confirmed.

"Hotaru!" ChibiUsa screamed as she leapt at her friend and smothered her up into a bone wrenching hug of happiness. "I'm so happy for you."

"Umm… ChibiUsa why don't you let Hotaru breath a little bit." Usagi said. And then addressing Hotaru with a smile, "Congratulations Hotaru. If I was not feeling so under the weather I probably would be doing the same thing as ChibiUsa right now."

"Okay, off to your bath the three of you." Ikuko said as she began corralling them to the base of the stairs.

Watching the three girls go, Eudial was very happy for Hotaru. Not only was the girl going to be cured tomorrow, she had really found a pair of good friends. Those two loved her unconditionally. It was too bad Hotaru had to go for all those years without friends like those two. Well at least she now had them. Her spirits uplifted even more; Eudial finished her tea and took her leave of the Tsukino household.

* * *

Racing through the night skies, the Sailor Senshi hunted as fast as they could for the extra energy collectors. Uranus remarked to herself that it was a quite brilliant move by Rubeus – use two different methods of hiding the crystals. That way should they find one half they would think they had uncovered his secret plan, not realizing that he had a second layer of cloak and dagger. As much as she was upset that Rubeus had managed to pull this over them, she was very glad that they had found that first batch. If they hadn't there was no doubt in her mind that the princess would now be dead.

"Over there." Neptune said after pausing to look at her mirror.

"You mean by that large cherry tree?" Uranus asked

"Hai, my mirror is showing a large swirling of dark energy enveloping that tree. The energy of the crystal point must be why it has grown so large." Neptune replied indicating how the cherry blossom tree in question was at least double the size of the rest of the trees in the grove.

"Any idea of how we get at the energy collecting crystal without destroying the tree?" Uranus asked, hoping that they could avoid destroying such a beautiful tree. Her first instinct of course was to say heck with the tree, the princess needed them. However, she knew her Highness would not accept that as a valid trade and with her stable for the moment she could not use the excuse that they didn't have time to look for an alternative."

Thinking to herself, Neptune tried to figure out a way to extract the enemy's crystal. In the back of her mind she had a vague idea that somehow it should be possible. Then looking down at her mirror, she got an idea. Jumping down off the roof of the building they were standing on, she walked up to the tree. Then holding out her mirror, she said, "Submarine Reflection." and hoped that the beam of energy that it emitted would not destroy the tree.

Uranus quickly followed her partner down to the ground. Seeing the attack Neptune fired at the tree, she was about to chide her partner for destroying the tree; however, when the attack finished, the tree was still standing there. But now the tree was bathed in a silver glow that itself was wrapped up in a cage of black lightning. _ Well this is obviously the target. _ Uranus thought to herself before she began to circle the tree. She got about a quarter of the way around when she noticed that all of the dark energy strands appeared to be radiating outwards from one point. Following the propagation of the energy strands, she located Rubeus's crystal.

"Now this is something that I can do something about." Uranus commented to herself as she summoned her saber. And then with a fluid slash, she had sliced the crystal into two parts. Watching on with satisfaction, she followed the subsequent disintegration of the crystal and the vanishing of its dark energy. She was then momentarily blinded by the light of the crystal point as the tree flare brightly, with the energy of the Crystal Point no longer constrained.

"Beautiful." Neptune commented from where she had come up beside Uranus.

"Hai, we need to bring her highness here sometime in the future and have you do that trick with the mirror again." Uranus replied, also awed by how beautiful the Cherry Blossom tree looked enveloped in the silver light. The two paused there for a little while, just watching the energy arc up into the sky. It was not till the silver light vanished with the fading of the spell that Neptune had cast that the two of them remembered their mission. And then in a blink of the eye the two of them were on the move again, looking for the next Crystal Point.

* * *

Sitting in the bath with ChibiUsa and Hotaru, Usagi suddenly felt a jolt. This drew the attention of ChibiUsa, "Momma are you okay?"

Looking down at the worried ChibiUsa, Usagi replied, "Hai, I am. Actually I am feeling a little bit better now than before. I guess the others must have found one of the objects that was draining my power."

It was at this point that Hotaru remembered about Usagi being Sailor Moon. The recent learning of her pending cure had of course distracted her from those thoughts. Looking over at ChibiUsa, she asked, "ChibiUsa-chan why do you call Usagi momma?"

Smiling with a Cheshire cat's smile, ChibiUsa replied, "Because she is."

"Now ChibiUsa, be nice to Hotaru." Usagi said chiding her daughter for trying to confuse Hotaru. "Hotaru-chan, ChibiUsa is from the future. So while she has not yet been born, I will be her mother." Hotaru gave a little nod of understanding with that explanation as it did at least explain why the two were so close in age. "One of the Sailor Senshi, Sailor Pluto, is guardian over time. And ChibiUsa here was sent back in time to train to be a Sailor Senshi."

"You're a Sailor Senshi too?" Hotaru asked her friend with eagerness in her voice.

"Hai, I'm Sailor ChibiMoon." She said while striking the best pose she could while seated in the bath.

"Sugoi." ChibiUsa commented before chuckling at ChibiUsa's attempt to strike a pose.

"I'll show you my Senshi form once we get out of the bath."

"So do you have any cool moves?" Hotaru eagerly asked.

This caused ChibiUsa to look a little downtrodden, given the general ineffectiveness of her own scepter attack. She was saved from further embarrassment by Usagi. "Hai, she can form her tiara into a powerful energy discuss" Usagi said mentioning that attack that ChibiUsa had used at auntie Misaki's and had apparently forgotten about. "And I am sure as she gets better she will develop more. Though I think nothing can top Mercury's snowman disguise." That comment caused ChibiUsa to break out laughing. While neither of them had seen the snowman Ami had turned herself into and were really disappointed that they had missed it, they had gotten a good enough description from Makoto.

"Huh?" Hotaru asked, wanting to know the joke. And with that, Usagi and ChibiUsa began to relate the snowman incident and from there the conversation drew onto other Sailor Senshi topics.

* * *

As the night drew into the wee hours of the morning, the Senshi finally concluded that they had probably found all of the energy collecting crystals. They had found an equal number of crystals as to those they had destroyed a few days earlier and when two hours of searching following the last discovered crystal failed to turn anymore up, Ami decided that it was likely there were no more. Satisfied with their search efforts, the Senshi had returned to their homes to try to get some sleep in preparation for the next day, for each knew that they would likely be spending the day fighting. While Ami wanted to spend time analyzing the measurements that she had taken at some of the infected Crystal Points, her mom had sent her straight to bed.

As for Tomoe, he worked through the evening and into the wee hours of the night making various final adjustments to his gateway generator. Though, before he had started on the generator he had prepared a batch of daimon eggs to be quickly matured using the energy supply that Rubeus had found. Deciding to only mature them to the minimal degree possible, he was able to mature a batch of eggs every hour and by the time the energy supply had died out, he had a few hundred warriors. While they were nowhere as strong as the individually matured Daimons, he figured that they would be sufficient to delay the advance of anybody who detected the opening of the portal.

For his part, Rubeus was making arrangements of his own for the inevitable arrival of the Sailor Senshi. While the trick with the Crystal Points had allowed him to get away with the Holy Grail without issue, he was not foolish enough to think that he was lucky enough to have killed Sailor Moon. And in any case when the Sailor Senshi arrived, they would be coming at him and Tomoe like bats out of hell for what he had done to their leader. And for that he would need some cannon fodder, a job which the rest of Tomoe's assistants fit the bill perfectly for as well as his associates.

While he was willing to let his associates delay the Sailor Senshi for a few minutes with just their guns, he had decided to augment the powers of the witches. After all, they already had some experience with magic, so giving them some more would not be a waste. And so prior to giving the Grail to Tomoe, he had used some of its energy to charge his own shard of the Wiseman's crystal.When he was restricted to just his own powers, he had been barely able to caste the spell that allowed Kaolinite to be gifted by the Wiseman with some of his powers. But this time by using some of the power of the Grail he would be easily able to bring Tellu, Viluy, Cyprine and Pitol to see the Wiseman.

* * *

With the arrival of morning, Luna opened her eyes. Unwrapping herself from Diana, she stood up and then stretching she prepared for the daily morning ritual of awakening Usagi. Though, if she had remembered her conversation with Ikuko the previous night, she would not have bothered. After seeing the gashes in Usagi's back as the girl was getting out of the bath and then hearing about the various battles, Ikuko had declared that Usagi was going to spend today at home in bed. At the time Luna had agreed that Usagi would be best served getting some needed rest, though she also suspected that Ikuko's real motivation was partially a need to mother her daughter some.

But as it was, Luna was still half asleep and with her mind not thinking straight yet she just went about her normal morning routine of waking Usagi. And while it was nowhere as bad as it was before ChibiUsa's arrival, it was still not an easy task to rouse Usagi out of bed. Padding over to the bed she absently noted that both of the futons on the floor were empty, indicating that ChibiUsa and Hotaru were already up. However, upon leaping up onto the bed she discovered that conclusion to be wrong. While it was not unusual to find ChibiUsa curled up with Usagi in the morning, she was surprised to find Hotaru there curled up as well. Shaking her head at the scene, she thought to herself _ If Usagi is not careful she is going to end up with another daughter, especially with how Diana's has described Hotaru's home life. _

The presence of Hotaru in the bed though did give her an alternate method by which to wake up her charge. Padding over to where Hotaru was lying, she licked the young girl's face. Unlike a Usagi, Hotaru's reaction was not long in coming. Slowly opening her eyes, Hotaru turned to regard the cat.

"Morning Luna-chan." She said as she pulled the cat up to her chest and began to pet her. Then extracting herself from the grip the other two girls had on her, she swung her legs over the side of the bed and got up. Still carrying Luna, she headed to the bathroom to wash up. "So Usagi and ChibiUsa tell me you can talk." She said as she placed Luna down on the counter.

_ Wha… why did they tell her that? _ Luna thought to herself. But then the memories of everything that had occurred last night began to finally settle back in, including the realization that she could have slept in a little longer. Not dwelling on that mixed luxury, Luna now remembered that Hotaru had learned about Usagi, Michiru, Setsuna, and Haruka the other day. Now fully awake, Luna replied "Hai, that I can. How are you doing this morning?"

"Ok, I'm excited about what my father has for me. I really would like to not get sick so easily." A giddy Hotaru replied.

"And the rest of yesterday?" Luna asked. While she did not want to ruin Hotaru's good mood, she wanted to make sure that Hotaru was not suffering any ill effects from the other two incidents she was involved in.

"I don't remember much of the dinosaur attack and I don't want to think about what happened at Crown. However, flying with Usagi was very fun." Hotaru finished on an upbeat, managing to find the good in bad as kinds are bound to do.

While Hotaru had been talking and going about washing up, Luna had been watching her intently trying to determine if the girl was suffering from any physical injuries. Hotaru did show signs that she was probably still a bit banged up and there were a couple of bruises visible, but nothing serious. Satisfied that Hotaru was okay, Luna followed Hotaru back out of the bathroom.

"Hotaru-chan could you wake up ChibiUsa and Usagi?" Luna asked as they reentered the bedroom, figuring that it would be a good idea to get Usagi up for at least a little bit this morning and that way she could see ChibiUsa off.

"Hai." Hotaru replied before heading over to the bed. Shaking ChibiUsa, she tried to wakeup her up. It took a few shakes, but eventually ChibiUsa opened her eyes. "ChibiUsa-chan time to get up." Hotaru said.

If it had been Usagi, Luna, or Ikuko-sama ChibiUsa would have mumbled an excuse and snuggled back into sleep. However, as it was Hotaru, she gave in and open her eyes the rest of the way before yawning. During this time, Usagi opened her own eyes and seeing that the other two were getting up, decided to get up herself. She was still worried about Hotaru from yesterday and was hoping that the events wouldn't come back to hit her later in the day.

"Morning Hotaru-chan," Usagi said to Hotaru as she reached out and gave the girl a quick hug and then giving a longer hug to ChibiUsa, she said "and to you too muzume."

"Usagi-chan how are you feeling this morning?" Luna asked Usagi as she got out of the bed.

"Other than many aches leftover from crashing yesterday, back to normal. Were the others able to find all the energy collectors?"

"Hai, Ami believes so and I agree with her. And, I'm glad to here that you are feeling back to normal." Luna said.

* * *

A little before ten that morning, found Usagi along with her mother walking Hotaru to the Mugen Academy. Ikuko had planned on walking Hotaru over by herself, but Usagi obviously had other plans. She had been in the process of changing the laundry loads when she had heard the front door open. Instantly realizing that Usagi was trying to take Hotaru herself, she had stepped out into the hall and asked Usagi and Hotaru to wait for a moment.

And it was a good thing that she had caught her daughter as Usagi had managed to completely forget about her wings, again. Unfortunately at times for Usagi, the phrase "you would forget your head if it wasn't attached" was quite applicable. Thankfully though, she was generally pretty good about remembering about her wings. And in fact more often than not it was Ikuko who belatedly forgot about her daughter's wings when guests were visiting, but in each case to her relief Usagi had already hidden them. But every now and then, Usagi tried to leave the house or go to open the door with them still out. More often than not that occurred when she was tired such as today. And so after finishing changing the laundry loads and then outfitting her daughter with an extra long wind breaker for her wings, the three of them had headed out.

"So Hotaru-chan what is the first thing you are going to do when you are all better?" Usagi asked.

"I'm going to go run to ChibiUsa's school to give her the good news." Hotaru replied enthusiastically.

Chuckling to that, Usagi replied, "That sounds like a good idea. And then I'm sure Haruka-san would be more than happy to help you begin training so that you run a marathon."

"A marathon?" Ikuko asked, having not heard Hotaru's dream.

"Hai, Hotaru's dream is to be able to run a marathon." Usagi replied, answering her mother. And then turning to address Hotaru, she said "And I think that it is a wonderful dream, which I am going to make sure that you achieve." while giving the young girl a pat on her back.

"Arigato Usagi-san." A happy Hotaru replied.

As the topic of conversation then drifted onto to how school was going for Hotaru, they continued their relaxing walked to the Mugen Academy. And then before either of the three realized it they were there and Ikuko and Usagi said they goodbyes to Hotaru. Then after watching her disappear through the front doors of the school, the two of them turned to go home. After a few block of walking in silence, Ikuko began speaking to Usagi.

"Usagi I am very proud with how you have been handling yourself since ChibiUsa's arrival. I know it may sound a bit harsh, but I find it hard to believe that you are the same daughter of mine from before."

Not letting her mother's words sting, Usagi instead said, "Hai, I know I have done a lot of growing up over these past few months. Many times I still want to be who I was before Luna found me, not having to worry about anything. But whenever I see ChibiUsa I forget all about my own desires and can only think about her and making sure that I am the best mother that I can be for her."

"And even though you are just fourteen years old, you are doing a very good job of being ChibiUsa's mother. ChibiUsa couldn't have asked for a better mother and the pride in her eyes over you being her mother is very evident."

"Arigatoo okaa-san." Usagi replied, "I just wish that I didn't have to hide that she is my daughter."

Ikuko understood the feeling that Usagi was admitting to. Just as ChibiUsa was proud of Usagi, so was Usagi proud of ChibiUsa and she wanted to be able to be able to proudly be able to introduce ChibiUsa as her daughter instead of just a distant cousin. "I know; I wish I could tell my friends that ChibiUsa is my granddaughter as well. And while you are doing a very good job with your newfound responsibilities, at the same time I do not want you to forget to be a teenager. Your father and I are here to help."

* * *

Racing through the hallways at a pace barely below that of a run, Hotaru hoped that the treatment wouldn't take too long and that it would have its effects quickly so that she could go show off her new healthy body to ChibiUsa this afternoon. Her father had been working on this particular invention for quite a while, so she had no doubt that it would do what it was supposed to, she just hoped that it would not hurt.

Opening the door to the lab, she spied her father and cried out, "Poppa!" as she flung herself practically across the room to grab a hold of him in a hug.

"Hotaru you're full of energy this morning." Professor Tomoe said with a smile as he caught his daughter.

"Hai, if I am going to be healthy again this afternoon, then I won't have to worry about getting tired anymore."

"Well then we should get to work." Professor Tomoe replied as he let his daughter go and headed over to the machine.

Really seeing the machine for the first time, Hotaru asked, "Poppa how is that going to help make me better?" the size and design of it scaring her a bit.

"It won't directly make you better. You see, Hotaru-chan, this is a gateway generator, which will allow us to bring over a powerful healer." Eudial said as she came up behind the girl.

"A healer?" Hotaru asked.

"Hai, someone with powers like your own, but with lots of training." Eudial said, putting the best spin on what she thought of this mysterious Wiseman. She did not want to worry Hotaru with her own worries, so for now she had decided to hide her concerns about Rubeus and his goals. For now all that mattered was healing Hotaru.

"So how long will it take to open the gateway?" Rubeus asked Tomoe as he entered the lab as well.

"I'm not sure, but probably a few hours. Yesterday's temporal disruptions have substantially complicated the calculations and I have only now gotten the initial ones finished. Now I need to begin probing the gateway, so that I can get the information I need before I activate the power of the Grail."

While Rubeus didn't look too pleased with that response, he did not say anything and instead took a seat in the corner of the room. He was close enough to bringing back the Wiseman that minor time delays would not matter. And anyways he had plenty of cannon fodder should the Sailor Senshi discover their plans.

* * *

Half an hour after lunch, the classroom could barely be described as alive. With lunch settling nicely in their stomachs, the students drifted in and out from following the English lesson and even Haruna did not have the energy to scold more than a few of the students for not paying attention. And so, when an alarm began buzzing with a rough approximation of an air raid siren, the more awake members of the class and Haruna jumped slightly while the less awake members ended up falling out of their chairs.

Turning to find the culprit, Haruna did not have to look very hard, as it was impossible to miss one very read faced Mizuno Ami. Instantly putting two and two together, Haruna realized that the alarm must indicate some kind of Senshi business. And with thoughts of the previous day's devastation, she said, "Mizuno-san, you might want to think of using a more subtle setting on your beeper, such as possibly a vibrate mode. However, you are dismissed to check in with your mother."

"Gomen, Haruna-sensei for the disruption, I won't let it happen again." Ami said after standing and while bowing quite low in apology to her teacher.

Once she had left the classroom, Ami summoned her computer and quickly acknowledged the alarm. Now with that noise maker silenced, she headed down the hallway to the nearest girls restroom. Entering one of the stalls, she began examining the readout from her computer. _ Let's see "temporal breach attempt". "Non response of Guardian of Spacetime", must be because of that stasis field Pluto is in. Is Rubeus unleashing another demon like yesterdays? Hmm… no these readings don't look anything from yesterday's battle. _ Ami thought to herself as she began to shift through the various sensor readings. Before long she realized that Rubeus must be attempting to open a portal to the Time Gate, probably so that he could bring reinforcements from the future. Now having figured out the what, Ami went about trying to determine the where. Unfortunately, the readings were too diffuse to adequately conclude that. In fact, the alarm appeared to have been trigged by the Gate itself, which she realized was probably why the computer had gone into a crisis mode, as the Gate logic would have hit a crisis response when it couldn't contact its Guardian.

A couple of minutes more and still not having figured out the where, Ami was about ready to go do some roof hopping in hope of finding the where, when she remembered the readings she had taken yesterday evening and in the wee hours of this morning during the hunt for those extra Crystal Points. The analysis on where that energy might have been directed was still running and she had a strong feeling that that energy was being used at least partially for creating this breach. Her fingers flying over the keyboard, Ami issued the commands to cross compare the two sets of measurements and then under a minute later she had her answer, Mugen Academy.

Closing her computer and stowing it back in her subspace pocket, Ami left the bathroom. Taking a moment to stop by the classroom, she let Haruna know that she had to leave and then headed down the hall as she walked she activated the panic button on her communicator. Once outside, she walked down the street a few blocks till she found an appropriate alleyway to henshin. Once she was transformed, she leapt up onto the roof of a nearby building and waited there for the others to check in.

Jupiter was only a few minutes behind her in reaching the roof, having gotten herself sent to the principal's office on purpose a few minutes after Ami had left. And during the distraction that Makoto had caused, Ryo had slipped out of the classroom and had arrived on the roof with Jupiter. Usagi, of course being at home, had responded immediately. Minako, Rei, Haruka and Michiru were all a few minutes after that. Once they were all online, Mercury told them to meet her on the roof of the Mugen Academy. And Haruka and Michiru were, as to be expected, quite surprised when they learned that it was their school that appeared to be Rubeus's base of operations.

* * *

Sensing the arrival of the Sailor Senshi, Rubeus thought to himself, _ Well it looks like the Rabbit's protectors have arrived. Well time to unleash the demons. _ And with that Rubeus walked over to the counter that held the containers of semi-matured Daimon egg broth. And then grabbing a hold of the containers he teleported to the roof.

"Well, well you are being as annoying as I had expected." Rubeus said as he appeared in front of the Senshi.

"Rubeus!" replied the Sailor Senshi when they saw him.

"I'm afraid that I don't have a good quality droid for you to face today, but quantity here will hopefully make up for that." Rubeus said as he emptied the buckets onto the roof of the building.

"Yuck, what is this stuff?" Venus asked as she backed away from the foul looking liquid.

Scanning it with her computer, Mercury was about to say that it appeared to have some of the same properties of the demons they had been fighting lately, when humanoid like shapes began to grow out of the liquid.

"Okay, instant demon I take." Uranus replied before slashing one of the demons with her sword. The blade cut smoothly into and through the demon to Uranus's delight and she smiled as the two halves of the demon returned to a liquid state and fell back into the muck. But then to her consternation, a new demon reformed out of the muck to take its fallen comrade's place. "Umm… this can't be good." She said as she realized that they might have a slight problem.

While Uranus was examining her sword work, Neptune had fired off a "Deep Submerge." blowing apart a dozen of the demons. Mercury for her part had frozen a series of them into ice statues, which then promptly shattered and Venus caught three of them in a row with one of her crescent beams. And unfortunately like the one Uranus had sliced in two, all of the demons they destroyed were quickly replaced by new ones coming out of the muck.

"Mercury-chan why aren't these demons staying dead?" Sailor Moon asked as she dashed behind Mars to get away from some of the advancing demons, demons which were quickly fried by Mars.

"Yeah how are we supposed to kill them if they keep reforming?" Jupiter added.

Deploying her visor and summoning her computer, Mercury began scanning the demons and the muck that covered the ground. As she tried to find a way to kill the demons, the rest of the Senshi formed up a wall between her and the advancing demon hoard. Settling on quickly firing off their attacks with the least power possible, the Senshi moved from one demon to the next, each focusing on the area just in front of them. This process of hitting the demon with an attack, watching it collapse back into the muck only to be replaced moments later continued for over ten minutes before Mercury finally spoke up.

"Minna-san I think I know why the demons aren't staying dead. This muck that is on the ground is the base component of the demons we have been fighting lately. When it forms up into a demon, it is doing so with only the bare minimum of energy needed for maintaining a demon form. So when we destroy it, we aren't doing any significant damage." Mercury said.

"Lovely" was Uranus's only reply between slashes with her sword as she cleaved one demon and then had to quickly bring her sword around to cleave another.

During the time that it took for Mercury to do her calculations, the demons had closed into melee range. And while Uranus was being forced to hack left and right non-stop, things were going relatively good for her – at least in comparison to the other Senshi. As none of the others had any kind of melee weapons and had so been forced into hand-to-hand contact with the gelatinous creatures. And while Venus did have her chain, which could be considered a melee weapon, her skill with it was insufficient for the current task at hand.

Actually Sailor Moon did have an improvised melee weapon as well – her scepter. She hadn't planned on using it as a club, but once the hoard of demons got too close it was impossible for her to use it for its intended purpose and so she had resorted to bashing them with the club. While not as effective as a sword, a couple bashes from the club, though, was sufficient to take down one of the demons. And with Mars and ChibiMoon helping to cover her, she wasn't in anymore danger than the rest of the group in being overwhelmed. The only one in the group not bothered by the demons was Ryo who after slicing too many demons with his claws and feeling sick each time he sliced into that gooey substance had decided to phase out and wait out of this battle. Even Tuxedo-Kamen's arrival did nothing to help turn the tide of the battle as he quickly discovered that he should have invested in Rose futures before he too was forced into just bashing the demons with his cane.

With her wings, Sailor Moon was a bit worse off in fighting the demons than the others were as she had more body area that could get covered in that demonic goop. And furthermore like happened to Ryo, she was finding that her body did not react well to getting demon remnants on her wings. But she managed to put up with the effects without too much more wining than the others were doing, but when Venus speared drenching her left side in the broth that was finally too much for Usagi to handle anymore. And so, with a distinct desire to get away from that substance, she took to the air. Now hanging in the air above the demonic ooze that was preventing their entry into the school, Usagi tried to think of some way to get past what was in affect a multi-headed demon. The power of her scepter was insufficient to blast away enough of the ooze to make a difference. Her Eternal Tier was another option open to her; it had worked the other day. But she knew that if she was forced to resort to using its power now, she wouldn't have sufficient strength left to fight Rubeus. But if the current state of affairs went on much longer that wouldn't really matter. Putting that depressing thought out of her mind, she tried to think of another solution. _ If only there was some way to purify this ooze all at once. Wait, that's it. _ she thought to herself as she hit upon the solution.

Calling down to the others, Sailor Moon said, "Minna-san I have an idea"

Now finally noticing that Sailor Moon was no longer on the ground, Mars grumbled, "Just great, the Odango-atama finally remembers she can fly, leaving us to fight these things hand-to-hand." Then tossing the demon she was currently fighting with to the ground, Mars turned and threw an ofuda onto another demon. Unfortunately she failed to notice a second demon, one which now lunged at her legs, knocking her to the ground. And then before she could move to standup, the one that had been the target of her ofuda turned back into ooze and fell on top of her. Quickly finding it difficult to breath, Mars struggled to free herself.

Seeing Mars trapped on the ground, Venus and Jupiter rushed to her side, but were clueless as to how to free her. Each time they tried to grab a hold of her, their fingers would slide off her arms. The problem of course being the ooze that was coating Mars's body, but they dared not use their attacks to free her from the ooze, sure that all that that would accomplish would be to hurt Mars even more.

Looking down on the situation that was quickly overwhelming her friends, Sailor Moon summoned the Ginzuishou. With a cry of "Moon healing Escalation" she sent a wave of purifying energy towards where the others were fighting. As the energy passed across the demons, they lost their cohesion and fell down into the ooze, which itself was quickly beginning to drain away as it turned into nothing more than dust. Then with the spell completed, she dropped quickly back to the ground, landing beside Mars.

Lifting her second best friend up off the ground, she asked, "Mars-chan you okay?"

Seeing the worried face of her friend, Mars smiled as she said "Hai, at least now I am."

Then turning to look at everyone else, Usagi asked "Is everyone else okay?" And when they replied in the affirmative, she said, "Well then let's go stop Rubeus."

With a nod of agreement the group of eight Senshi, one tuxedo clad warrior, and one alien dropped down to the street and rushed into the school building.

"Okay Mercury which way do we go now?" Venus asked after they entered the school.

"Give me a moment." Mercury replied as she began trying to determine where the location of this gateway generator was.

While Mercury was doing her analysis, the rest of the Senshi were trying their best to ignore the scene that they were in the process of creating, as students all around them stopped and turned to stare at the Sailor Senshi who had barged into through the front door of the school.

"Umm minna-san, shouldn't we do something about these kids?" Uranus asked after recognizing one too many of her schoolmates.

"Well we'll hopefully be going soon and then they can go back to what they were doing." Mars replied.

"Iie, that's not what I meant. We are probably going to be fighting Rubeus somewhere in this building and…"

"We've got to get them out of here!" Usagi exclaimed as she realized what Uranus meant.

Then turning to ask Uranus how to find the main office, she was shoved off her feet by Ryo. Rolling with Sailor Moon on the ground, Ryo yelled, "Scatter!"

Stirred into action by Ryo's sudden action and then even more so by the sound of gun fire, the Senshi quickly found what cover they could in the hall. Looking over to where Sailor Moon had been standing a few moments earlier, they saw the floor had been torn up by a series of bullet shots.

"Damn this is not good." Uranus grumbled as she risked a peak around one of the lockers. "There are far too many children around here." She said as she noticed a group of fourth graders down one of the halls who only moments ago were heading there way.

"Hai, we can't afford to fight here." Venus agreed.

Trapped out in the middle of the floor, Sailor Moon and Ryo were currently hiding behind a shield that Usagi was projecting using the Ginzuishou. Thankfully the impact of bullets from the automatic weapons was not very draining.

"Anyone have any good ideas?" Jupiter asked while trying to figure out how to send one of her attacks down the hall without hitting any of the students who were also trapped out there in the main hallway.

"If they can't see us, then we will have an opening." Mercury replied as she dashed out into the center of the hall with her arms pulled up into the beginning stance of her spell. Then acting before the enemy could get a bead on her, she summoned her fog with the words "Mists of the fox" not realizing that she had cast a different spell than her normal one.

As soon as she said her words, the hall and all adjoining corridors quickly became enveloped in a heavy fog as the ambient light faded to being no stronger than that of weak moonlight. Deploying her visor, Mercury and the others began to cautiously make their way down towards their enemy, moving quietly so as to not give away their position.

Beside Mercury, Mars shivered as she began to hear the sounds of rustling and motion in the distance. Looking around, she tried to peer through the fog to find the source of the noise, but this latest fog of Mercury's was far stronger than any of her previous ones and she could barely see more than a few feet in front of her face and part of her mind was even telling her she was lost in a thick forest. Straining her ears even more so to locate the source of the noise, she realized that whatever it was, it was all around her. And now her spiritual sense began screaming about some kind of presence in this fog, almost as if it was alive. It was then that she began to hear grown men begin to scream and the assault rifles open up again. Falling back into a ready stance, she realized after a few moments that none of the shots were coming their way. Listening more closely to the sounds of the weapons, she realized that they were being fired in random directions. Though, now their sound had diminished some, as well as the number of screams.

"Nani-ka" came the questioning voice of Mercury a few moments later just before she suddenly dissolved the mist. Able to now see where they were moving, the rest of the group quickly moved up beside Mercury and saw what had surprised their friend. There on the ground lay the bodies of six men, each sporting a series of nasty cuts and teeth marks. Beside them lay their weapons, or what remained of them, all but one of them had been broken into at least two parts. The sixth weapon quickly proceeded to join the others when Uranus saw that it was still in one piece, her sword neatly cleaving it.

"What happened?" Neptune asked.

"I don't know; Rubeus must have some other demon in the area, one that did not discriminate between friend and foe and took advantage of my mist to attack." Mercury hypothesized.

"Hai, I agree with Mercury. While Mercury's mist was obscuring everything, I felt another almost demonic presence in the area." Mars said.

"Great, so we have another demon to worry about?" Jupiter asked.

"Hai, and Rubeus has designed one that makes sure that I can't use my mist to buy us time and cover." Mercury replied, not too happy with their realization.

"Well then what now?" Venus asked

"Well at least it doesn't look like we have to worry about evacuating the students anymore." Ami replied as she nodded her head towards one of the blaring fire alarms, apparently someone had pulled the alarm while the Senshi were busy with the gunmen. Then pulling out her computer, she ran some scans before continuing. "It looks like Rubeus has set up shop in the basement." And with that the group took off towards the nearest stairwell with Uranus and Neptune in the lead.

Taking the stairs one landing at a time, the warriors quickly reached the lowest basement level and then without pausing they burst through the fire door and into the hallway.

"Well, well it looks like the Sailor Senshi managed to get past the Daimon broth." came a woman's voice that of Tellu.

"In that case, I guess it is time for us to try out these new powers that Rubeus-sama has given us and prove that unlike Kaolinite and Mimete that the rest of Witches 5 are not pathetic failures." Pitol added.

"Hai, and I think I will start with the dumb blond." Cyprine said moments before unleashing a blast of energy at Venus.

Quickly following suit the other three members of the basement welcoming committee attacked the gathered Sailor Senshi as well. Scattering out of the way, the Sailor Senshi quickly came to appreciate that the extra wide size of the basement hallways, as it gave them room to actually dodge out of the way of the attacks. Otherwise taking them out would have been no harder than shooting fish in a barrel. Counter attacking the witches, the hallway soon became nothing more than a jumbled melee as witch and Sailor Senshi unleashed attacks before quickly moving out of the way of an attack aimed at themselves. As they fought, Mercury wished she could have used her mist to give them some cover from the witch's attacks.

Blocking an attack from Ryo and then blasting him with the other end of her staff, Cyprine called out to her twin, "Since when did the Sailor Senshi begin recruiting demons?"

"Don't know. Too bad for it that its invisibility doesn't work when it is between the two of us." Pitol said before bringing the glowing end of her staff down on the back of Ryo causing the Shadow warrior to shriek in pain.

"Hai, though I might just let it go if it would just shut up." Cyprine said as she blasted Ryo with a blue ball of energy, resulting in another shriek of pain.

"Ryo-kun!" Mercury screamed as she saw the beating that her boyfriend was taking. Unleashing a Shine Aqua Illusion at the red head who had her back to her, Mercury was surprised when the girl suddenly spun around and deflected the attack right back at her. Not expecting to be hit by her own attack, Mercury was suddenly frozen in place.

"Hmm… looks like we have an artist in this group. And I thought you just liked playing with your chemistry set." Cyprine said.

"Well I can't take all the credit, I had a great model." Pitol replied. "Though, I guess I should share my talent with others." She said before giving the Mercury statue a good whack and sending it flying towards the others. It proceeded to fly midway through the melee before hitting Sailor Moon in the back knocking her down on top of Sailor Mars.

"Hey Odango-atama are you putting on some weight?" an annoyed Sailor Mars said from where she was face down on the linoleum floor.

"Gomen, something hit me in the back." And then turning to dislodge what had knocked over she gasped, before crying out "Mercury-chan!"

"Wha…" Mars said as she worked her way out from under her princess and then trailed off as she saw the frozen body of Mercury.

"Well well, now if this isn't a bit touching. How about some flowers for your funeral?" Tellu suggested before throwing a handful of seeds at the three of them. Seeds which midway through the air suddenly sprouted into a flowering vine with razor sharp needles.

Unable dodge out of the way in time, both Mars and Sailor Moon cried out in pain as the vines cut into their exposed flesh and sliced through their uniforms. Ignored by Tellu, the frozen statue of Mercury finally began to thaw from the sudden warmth that spread out as Mars began summoning fireball after fireball in an attempt to burn away the killer plants. Unable to actually control where she was summoning the fireballs, bound as her arms and hands were, most of them lay harmlessly on the ground. But a few of them appeared close enough to Mercury and some as well did manage to ignite the binding plant.

Finally free of the trap, Mars advanced on Tellu while bouncing a fireball in each of her hands. "Now if you know what is good for you, you'll let me burn all the rest of the seeds that you have." Stated Mars, but she did not get to take more than a few steps before the twins launched a very bruised Ryo at her. Falling to the ground, entrapped in the many legs of the Shadow Warrior, Mars's mental defenses cut in and shut down her mind to protect it from the telepathic contact she was currently having with the creature.

On the other end of the melee, Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune were not having much better luck facing off against Viluy. Very quickly the trio had learned to stay away from any electric outlet or ficture in the hallway, as Viluy's powers over electronics turned each and every one of them into deadly instruments of war. Stray to close to one and you would be attacked by electric cables with a life of their own, each rippling with a nice shocking current.

"Now what?" Uranus asked as Viluy suddenly began tossing small items out of the pockets of her lab coat.

The items in question upon closer inspection appeared to be spiders made out of one of those child mechanical engineering toy building sets. If they weren't involved in a deadly battle, they might even be quite cute. But as it was none of them had a good feeling about the swarm of mechanical spiders that were suddenly being sprawled all over the floor or the fact that they were slowly marching towards each one of them. The bad feeling increased when the back of the lead spiders suddenly opened up and a small cylinder rose up and was aimed towards the Senshi.

"Umm… I have no idea what is about to happen, but I say jump!" Jupiter hastily said. And as the three of them jumped out of the way, three dozen class IV lasers opened fire blasting substantial chunks out of the basement wall.

Landing, the three of them were very dismayed to realize that the mechanical spiders had tracked them. Jupiter and Uranus were blown off their feet by the second volley of fire. However, Neptune had summoned her mirror and consequently had reflected the attacks directed at her back at the swarm of spiders, turning many of them into smoking wrecks. Or at least for a few moments into smoking wrecks as very quickly they reformed and began stalking towards their targets again.

Seeing the reforming spiders from where she had been knocked to the ground, Uranus just grumbled to herself, "Great just like the goop from earlier it's another group of instant heal demon." Then getting to her feet, her thinking out loud continued, "Well until Mercury gets a chance to figure out how to stop them for good or the princess does her trick again, World Shaking." And with that Uranus blasted a large swath of destruction through the swarm for a few moments. Following on her lover's lead, Neptune also began using her Deep Submerge in an attempt to keep the spiders in pieces.

Also returning to her feet, Jupiter took a few moments to examine the battle between Uranus, Neptune and the spiders and got an idea. Rushing into the center of the swarm of spiders, her brazen move caused both Uranus and Neptune to stop attacking as all the spiders turned to face the tasty treat which they now had surrounded.

"Jupiter-chan what the heck do you think you are doing?" Uranus practically yelled at the Thunder Senshi.

"Well this witch's power seems to be electronics and you know how bad lightning strikes tend to be for computers. Well I figured that these spiders might be similarly vulnerable." Jupiter said explaining her actions before tuning them out as she began to concentrate drawing all of the available electrical energy that she could. Around her the spiders suddenly froze in their motions, devoid of energy, and the lights began to flicker. As she drew the electricity toward her body, it arced from the various sources into the antenna on her tiara. Her body now crackling with electricity, Jupiter spoke the words. "Thunder Dragon Plunge." And with that the buildup of energy around her body suddenly took the form of a dragon which proceeded to dive straight into the ground, resulting in a sizzling wave of current radiating away from her body. And as the wave impacted the spiders, each one briefly lit up as every circuit was overloaded before becoming nothing more than a dead husk.

Awed by what was happening, Neptune and Uranus did not realize till too late that standing on the ground while an electrical surge was heading your way was probably not the best of ideas. They only had time to look at each other's face with the realization of what was about to happened before the wave hit them too and they screamed out in pain before they fell to the ground unconscious.

Viluy of course had taken to the air, the moment she realized what Jupiter was planning to do. As for the rest of the participants in this battle, the strength of the surge had died out enough by the time it hit them to cause them to only stumble in their steps and in the case of the Sailor Senshi to send nasty looks Jupiter's way.

"Well if you want to play with high voltage, two can play that way." An annoyed Viluy said before blasting the recovering Jupiter into a wall with an arc of electricity.

* * *

Venus of course had managed to miss the initial part of the battle, given that she had been the first target of the witches and unlike the other Sailor Senshi had not been able to move out of the way in time. Upon recovering she had attempted to help Ryo with Cyprine and Pitol but the twins did not seem to even need to look her way in order to repeatedly bat her into a wall as they proceeded to fight Ryo.

Then when the twins had decided they were done playing with Ryo things had gotten a whole lot worse for her as they were now able to turn their full attention to bashing her around with their staves. Quickly realizing that she was not going to survive long in this 2 on 1 battle and knowing that the others were likewise fully occupied, she decided to see how much camaraderie the witches had for each other. Hopefully they would be like Beryl's generals and would be looking for an opportunity to off each other, in which case she might just be able to make it out of this mess alive.

With much effort and pain, Venus slowly led the twin witches towards where Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Kamen were trying to avoid being turned into plant fertilizer. Risking a quick glance to confirm where the Tellu and her opponents were, Venus leapt into the air and fired off a pair of her crescent beams, one at each of the two twins. As expected they easily dodged the energy beams and had retaliated with an energy attack from their staves – aimed right at where she was supposed to land. There was no way she could dodge those attacks, or that would be the case if she was to land on her feet, but with a smile Venus splayed her body and closed her eyes knowing that the face plant was going to be quite painful.

Pitol and Cyprine could only watch on in surprise as the blonde haired Senshi proceeded to hit the floor face first, having made no attempt to land on her feet. Looking at each other with a questioning look for a moment before looking back to their target, they suddenly realized what Venus's plan was since at that moment their attacks hit Tellu square in the back. But then with nothing more than a shrug, the twins returned to dealing out pain to Venus.

Venus's gambit came at the right moment for Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Kamen as they had run out of room dodging the plants that were quickly beginning to cover the entire floor in the area. To make things even better, as Tellu attempted to return to her feet, Mars and Ryo rejoined the fight. Now fighting against two Senshi, one Tuxedo clad warrior who had limited powers over plants and a Shadow Warrior Tellu quickly found herself being overwhelmed. With no one being thrown into her, Mars was now able to incinerate the plants that Tellu called forth as fast as the witch tried to call them. And then with a scream of pain, Tellu was down on the ground as her leg began to bleed profusely through a series of claw marks.

"What happened?" Sailor Moon asked, not having seen the attack that had taken Tellu down.

"With the three of you distracting her, I was able to get in close and cut her with my claws. After much recovery she will have use of her leg again, and if we bandage the wound now, she will live." Ryo said, knowing that Usagi would not want any of their opponents to die if they could help it.

"Hai," Sailor Moon replied, already moving to patch up the wound on Tellu's leg. For Tellu's part, the shock of the blood loss had gotten to her and she had passed out, no longer a threat.

Then as soon as she had the wound patched up, the four of them joined Venus in her fight against the twins. As for the fought against Viluy, Jupiter was now done for the count. The spell she had cast to take out the spiders had really taken a lot out of her and as a result she was only able to put up a token resistance against the witch. But thankfully, by the time she was fully out of the fight, Uranus and Neptune were back in and with them no longer having to worry about tiny spiders packing deadly lasers, the two of them were able to double team Viluy back into a corner.

Never moving far from each other's side, Neptune was able to deflect every blast of electricity that Viluy sent their way, while Uranus used her sword to slice through any electrical wires that Viluy attempted to call forth. Dodging Deep Submerges and World Shakings, Viluy tried to think of someway to gain the upper hand again when she felt the cold concrete of the basement wall press into her back. Knowing that she had run out of time, she reached into her pocket to pull out one more contraption, a contraption that was quickly sliced in half by Uranus's sword in a strike that also sliced across the her left side of her body. Badly injured Viluy fell to the ground. Trying to get back up she suddenly was lifted into the air by a quick kick from the now minimally recovered Jupiter. Not yet recovered enough to use her spells, Jupiter however was fully capable of following up her kick with a strong punch to the face of Viluy knocking her unconscious.

* * *

Even though all but three of the Senshi were now battling the twins, the situation hadn't really improved for the Senshi. About the only improvement for Venus in the fight was now that there were more Senshi she was getting bashed quite so often since there were others to be bashed as well. Getting fed up over being tripped by the red haired twin, Mars twisted as she fell to the ground and unleashed a wave of fire from her hands. The fire of course completely missed either twin, since Mars had attacked in rage, and instead had slammed in the ceiling of the basement. Like many laboratory buildings, the ceiling here was unfinished and so her fire proceeded straight into the utility pipes and melted a steam line. Thankfully Mars had also melted a water line, so no one got scolded by the sudden mist that enveloped the hallway.

"What the?" some of the others called out as they tried to figure out what had just happened.

And of course with visibility nil, Sailor Moon managed to find Tuxedo-Kamen's dropped cane by tripping over it and giving a cry of "owie!" as she hit the ground. Then picking herself up, she gulped as she a glowing blue light just a bit further away in the mist.

"While I am not sure what your fire happy friend was thinking, I don't think you need to worry about it much longer." Cyprine smirked as she fired a massive ball of energy at her target.

However unbeknownst to Cyprine, Pitol had been thinking the exact same thing and had unleashed a deadly attack at Sailor Moon as well. While the two of them were too close to Sailor Moon for her to have been able to dodge if she had been one of the other Senshi, they had failed to take into account her wings. Wings which with a strung flex gave her an extra push up into the air, allowing her to clear ground zero just in the nick of time. Unfortunately for Cyprine and Pitol as was the case when they had accidentally hit Tellu earlier, they had not aimed their attacks at the ground and the two of them had been on exactly opposite sides of Sailor Moon. Eyes widening in fear, each of the witches took their twin's blast in the chest. Blown off their feet, they hit the ground and quickly slipped into comas.

When the Wiseman had given the twins their powers, he had given them complimentary opposite powers. This made the two of them quite deadly, but it also meant that they were especially vulnerable to each other's attack, a drawback that they had now learned or would learn if they ever regained consciousness.

As soon as Mercury had realized what Mars had done to the pipes, she had used her ice to temporarily seal the pipes. Then as the mist finally faded away, she gave a sigh of relief that the unknown demon from before had not made a second appearance. And with the mist now clear, they were able to see that their opponents were finally down for the count and so began the process of bandaging wounds before they moved onto Rubeus. But before they did that, Mercury had Mars melt the damaged pipes shut, and then they were off again.

Reaching the final door, no one blinked an eye as Jupiter and Uranus blasted it clear off its hinges and deep into the lab room. Then slightly more cautious than when they had entered the basement, the Sailor Senshi entered the laboratory and were immediately forced to scatter when Rubeus attacked.

"Well, well, you Sailor Senshi are definitely more trouble than I had thought you would be." A very confident Rubeus said from where he floated in the air midway between the group and a giant machine in the distance.

Taking stock of the room, .the eyes of all the Sailor Senshi except for Usagi and ChibiMoon were drawn to the giant machine and Rubeus. The eyes of Usagi and ChibiMoon were instead drawn to a black haired girl who was sitting on a chair near the machine, a girl that the two of them instantly recognized to be Hotaru.

"Hotaru?" the two Senshi asked.

Hearing her name called, Hotaru looked up to see Usagi in her Sailor Moon outfit. _ What are the Sailor Senshi doing here? _ she wondered and then taking a good look at the room again, she suddenly felt a chill in her soul as she realized that her father was somehow connected to the demon attacks. Any further thoughts, however, were ended when Rubeus teleported back to where she was sitting and grabbed her by the neck.

"Now Sailor Moon I am sure you don't want to be responsible for this girl's death. So be a good girl and don't move." Rubeus commanded.

From where she had been working beside the professor, Eudial gasped in horror when she saw Rubeus ruthlessly pick up Hotaru. Abandoning her work, she rushed over to save Hotaru, and as she did so she unhooked from behind her back one of her custom creations. After getting up from the few hours rest she had had last night, Eudial had stopped by her office before returning to the lab to pick up her Fire Buster. At first she had interpreted the feelings that she was having as being indication that someone would try to prevent Hotaru's cure, but now she realized that her intuition had been telling her not to trust Rubeus. Aiming for Rubeus's legs, the only part of him that she could confidently hit with out worrying about Hotaru, Eudial unleashed a stream of fire.

Noticing motion out of the corner of his eye, Rubeus turned his head in time to see Eudial charging towards him with furry in her eye. Quickly taking to the air, he managed to avoid the majority of the fire that Eudial sent his way, though his lower legs did get singed. Ignoring the pain, Rubeus turned his full gaze to the woman who had now come to a halt.

"Well I see that you have outlived your usefulness. The Wiseman was correct in knowing that your desire to protect Hotaru would make you too much of a liability." Rubeus said before blasting Eudial.

Eudial tried to shield her body with her arms and hence the Fire Buster she held as well. However, the blast quickly burned through the Fire Buster, igniting its fuel tank in a mighty deflagration. Blown backwards with her front singed by the fireball, the rest of Rubeus's attack then impacted her chest – charring her stomach and internal organs in third degree burns. Falling to the ground in unimaginable pain, she was left to stare at the smirking man as her body began shutting down, death being unavoidable.

Not wanting to take any chances with the professor defecting, Rubeus now proceeded to send a pulse of energy into the crystal shard that the professor carried. With the good professor now under his full control he asked, "How much longer Tomoe-san?"

Looking up from his work with a large smile the professor picked up the grail and set it down on its platform. "None, the gateway is being opened as we speak."

And he was right, as behind the device a region of the room began to grow increasingly dark as it seemed to pinch itself away from reality as it formed a portal to another plane of existence. From where they stood, stopped by Rubeus's taking of a hostage, the Sailor Senshi could only watch helplessly as darkness spilled out of the growing portal while Rubeus laughed. Then before they knew it a robed figure holding a purple crystal ball slowly glided out from the portal, bringing a deathly chill with him that caused each of the Sailor Senshi to shiver.

Returned to reality, the Death Phantom grinned with glee. Ahead of him lay the Sailor Senshi, and by the time they reached him it would be no trouble to crush them. Glancing to the side of the portal he saw his servant Rubeus and the professor that Rubeus had recruited. There was also a small child that Rubeus was holding by the neck, inwardly smiling some more he realized that must be why the Senshi were frozen in place like statues. Taking a few moments before the inevitable chaos broke out, the Death Phantom regarded Serenity, her aura was quite strong and in some ways more powerful than that of her future self. That was not good, but beside her stood the rabbit and she was also stronger than she was in Crystal Tokyo and that was good. Once he had taken the girl's body as his own, defeating Serenity would not be an issue.

Then feeling an unknown sympathetic energy the Death Phantom tried to locate its source. Very quickly he realized that he was feeling its presence through one of the crystal shards, which was very curious. Focusing in on what remained of the crystal, he now realized that the source of the energy was the child that Rubeus was holding. Now using the crystal shard to probe this energy, he smiled as he confirmed that she like him held the power of pure destruction – her soul was black as night.

This child would be a perfect a 1st to stand beside him as he took down this universe before moving onto the next. And combining her powers with those he was going to get when he took the Rabbit's body, there was nothing that would be able to stop them. Now searching his memories for the child's name, he slowly approached the girl.

* * *

From where she was being held in midair, Hotaru watched in horror as Rubeus brutally cut down Eudial – a woman who was like a mother to her. Eudial was the one who would protect her from Kaolinite's verbal abuse and gave her the will to live during those long periods when she rarely saw her father and before she met ChibiUsa. Struggling with all her might, Hotaru tried to free herself from Rubeus when her papa began activating the machine he had been working on. She did not know what kind of evil was about to come out of it, but she was now sure that it was evil and she also knew that she was the only reason why the Sailor Senshi were not destroying it. She had to get herself free from Rubeus.

Unfortunately, her struggles were insufficient and far too quickly pitch black darkness began to leak into the room. Strangely as much as that darkness chilled her soul and made her want to run away and hide, she was also strangely drawn to it – almost finding comfort in it. And then the evil which her father had called forth had entered their world. Gulping in fear, she realized that the creature was now regarding her. Feeling as if his eyes were peering into her soul, she suddenly felt very dirty. Trying to shy away in revulsion she was unable to and then the creature began caressing her right cheek.

"Yes it is as I thought. Rubeus you have done very well. This child you hold is kin to me and holds tremendous power." the Death Phantom happily stated, startling the Senshi and Hotaru. Now looking at Hotaru he continued, "Awaken my Soldier of Destruction. Come serve your master and cast away your mortal body."

As he spoke those words, the Death Phantom began channeling a portion of his energy and essence into the crystal fragment that she held. Feeling the energy exploding out from within her body, Hotaru screamed. Now released by Rubeus, she collapsed to the ground as the energy that the Death Phantom was feeding her soul began to burst out from within. With each passing moment the energy coursed more densely and Hotaru withered and screamed in even more pain. On the other side of the room, the Senshi could only stare in shock and horror at what this creature had done to Hotaru. Then a full minute after it had begun, the energy vanished and Hotaru found her strength returning.

Once her strength had fully returned and more so, Hotaru stood up. At first ChibiMoon and Usagi were pleased to see that she was alright, but their happiness died when they got a good look at her face. The warm eyes of the Hotaru they had gotten to know and love were gone, instead cold glowing purple orbs remained and on her forehead an alchemic letter was etched in purple as well. Then after reaching out a hand to summon her weapon of destruction, the Silence Glaive, Hotaru knelt on one knee in front of the Death Phantom.

"My lord I am in your dept for awakening me and saving me from that frail mortal body. What is it that you wish me to silence?" The Soldier of Destruction asked.

"Take the Holy Grail and use its powers to bring me the rabbit. We need her alive, though only by the barest of margins, so that I can merge with her and gain dominion over the Ginzuishou and the Golden Crystal. The others you can destroy."

"As you wish my lord." Hotaru replied.

While the Hotaru was pledging her loyalty to the Death Phantom, the attention of the Sailor Senshi was drawn by a telepathic scream from Ryo. Turning to look at Ryo, they saw him screaming in agony as violet energy clashed with silver energy along his body while his golden crescent moon glowed brightly and he tried to break free so that he could answer the siren's call. But as one moment passed to the next, the amount of violet energy decreased and the silver energy seemed to take on a more solid cord like appearance. And then when the last of the violet energy had vanished, the silver energy solidified into binding cords and Ryo fell to the ground unconscious.

"Ryo-kun!" Usagi cried out in concern when Ryo fell to the ground. Rushing up beside him, she looked at Mercury who had also moved instantly to Ryo side. "Mercury-chan what happened to Ryo?"

"I don't know, but at least his life signs are stable." A worried Mercury replied.

"How touching, such concern over my foot soldier. Don't worry once I kill Sailor Moon here, Urawa will be free to carry out my bidding again." the Dark Soldier that was once Hotaru said as she walked towards the Senshi.

Unsure of how to react to this demonic persona that had obviously possessed Hotaru, the Senshi fell into fighting stance but did not take any further action. Seeing that the Senshi were going to give her the honor of making the first move, the Soldier of Death unleashed a wave of black lightning at the group. Ready for the attack, the Senshi jumped out of the way and upon landing unleashed their own set of attacks – attacks that vanished harmlessly upon meeting a barrier created by Hotaru.

"Now, now did you think my power of the Silence just applied to taking peoples' lives? Your attacks are no different, especially since they are merely projections of your souls." A smug Hotaru replied before dashing towards the group with blinding speed.

Caught off guard by Hotaru's rapid movement, still considering Hotaru to be a weakling, she was past their ranks before they knew it and Sailor Mars and Uranus were down on the ground – the two Senshi who had stood near her path. Mars had been taken down when Hotaru had jammed the butt end of her pole arm into her stomach. Uranus met the other end of the pole arm and now lay on the ground clutching her arm trying to staunch the flow of blood. Smiling at the pain she had inflicted, Hotaru turned to regard the others just in time to be hit front on with a blast of from Usagi's Moon Scepter. In seeing Rei cut down she had forgotten who they were fighting and had instead become consumed with the soul need to protect her 2nd best friend.

The attack from Usagi knocked Hotaru into a cabinet full of glassware on one of the laboratory walls. Quickly recovering from the attack, Hotaru landed on her feet. Then summoning her Silence Wall to nullify another round of attacks from the Senshi, she retaliated by slashing her glaive down at Sailor Moon. As she did so, a black blade of energy was released along the direct line from the tip of her blade to Usagi. Barely having any time to react, Usagi brought her Scepter up to block the attack. Grimacing under the strain, she was pushed back a few feet, but she managed to hold her ground. At least she held her ground till the scepter snapped in two and then the final remnants of Hotaru's attack bowled her over.

Seeing the Sailor Senshi getting ready to attack her for yet another time, Hotaru decided she just wanted to end this battle. And looking over at the child that her master was so interested in, she noticed that the tuxedo clad warrior had her safely off to one side, which meant that she could unleash her full power on the rest without worry.

Summoning the grail, which the Death Phantom had given her, Hotaru spoke to her attackers. "Foolish Senshi, don't you know that I am the Messiah of Silence, nothing can stop me, especially when I have the power of the Grail."

Then slamming her glaive into the ground she unleashed a massive blast of energy at the Senshi, sufficient to kill them all as well as taking out a good mile of Tokyo's real estate. Knowing that the others would never be able to get of the way in time from Hotaru's attack, Usagi discarded her broken scepter and ran in front of the attack. Throwing her arms and wings out, she called upon the power of the Ginzuishou moments before the blast overcame her.

Curious as to why Sailor Moon had just thrown away her life, she after all had been far enough to the side of the epicenter of her attack to have been able to escape, Hotaru waited for the dust to settle. Once the dust had settled, she noticed that her blast had dug a nice ramp out to ground level in what use to be an exterior wall of the basement. But she also noticed to her annoyance that Sailor Moon had some how managed to erect a silver dome, thereby protecting the others from her attack.

While the dome had protected the Senshi and the bound Ryo from the worst of Hotaru's attack, the shield was not perfect. Some of Hotaru's attack did slip through and it had left six very badly bruised Sailor Senshi. As for Sailor Moon, she still stood, but her wings and fuku were slightly scorched. Feeling her strength faltering Sailor Moon slipped down so that one knee was resting on the ground. Looking up at Hotaru her expression had become one of confusion and pleading for the young girl to explain why she was helping Rubeus.

Walking closer to the weakened Sailor Moon, Hotaru just smiled, soon the battle would be over and she and her master in his new body could go about bringing the Silence to the entire universe. Reaching out her glaive so that it pointed directly at Sailor Moon's chest, she did not need to speak. It was clear that with the next attack Sailor Moon would be dead.

But then Sailor Moon found her strength returning as a hand was placed on her left shoulder. Looking up over that shoulder she saw that Tuxedo-Kamen had come and was now lending her his strength. Returning to her feet, she summoned her Eternal Tier. She was not sure how useful it would be given the bad record she had in using its attack, but she did feel more comfortable holding it in her hands. Bringing the tier up in a ready position in front of her chest she found her body gaining even more strength as ChibiUsa now joined her on the right side, wrapping an arm around her leg.

Smiling down at her daughter, Sailor Moon said, "Don't worry muzume, we'll get Hotaru back to normal somehow." Then turning back to look at Hotaru she called upon all of her power, letting her Serenity form take over. As she did so, Mamoru's Endymion and ChibiUsa's princess forms also took over. And so now two princesses and a prince looked towards Hotaru with expressions that said they wouldn't rest till she was saved.

Taking a step forward from Endymion and princess Usagi, Serenity said, "Hotaru-chan you don't have to do this. I don't know what that demon did to you, but we all liked the Hotaru that we used to know. I know you are my daughter's best friend." Serenity implored the opposing warrior. And to the last part, princess Usagi vigorously nodded.

"The Death Phantom did nothing; he only awoke the power that was already in me. And it was that power, which showed me my destiny. Now Princess Serenity, the last of the moon princesses it is time for you to finally meet the Silence."

Reacting quickly to Hotaru's attack, Serenity used her Tier to deflect the blast and then the second and third blast.

"Well you seem to be doing a bit better now, but how will you do against a grail enhanced attack?" Hotaru asked as began calling upon the power of the grail to unleash a series of violet-black ribbons from the tip of her blade.

Quickly realizing that the Tier would not be sufficient, Serenity dropped her staff letting it vanish and instead called forth her crystal. Erecting a silver shield with it, she poured all that she had into to stopping the attack. But even as she felt Endymion and her daughter add their own support to the barrier she knew that it would not last. Her mind racing, she tried to think of some way to stop Hotaru – preferably one that would allow her to still heal Hotaru.

"Princess give it up, you are no match for the power of the grail. You do realize that the attacks that humanity faces are because of you." Seeing the confusion cross Serenity's face she smiled and continued. "Don't be so surprised, I am the force of movement, I can see the shadows which cross the white moon. Your rebirth here on Earth shattered the seals holding Beryl and her army imprisoned in the fabric of space. Twentieth century Tokyo faced the wrath of Rubeus, because of your daughter and your future actions as queen. Did you know that 30th century Tokyo is utterly destroyed, the only survivors being those lucky enough to be in the palace during the attack. It was your actions you know which led to the creation of the entire Dark Moon Army.

"And yet more shadows will cross the moon and cause pain and suffering for the people of this planet, and all because of you. Should you cease to exist the people of this planet will be spared from those wars. If you really do desire to protect the people of this planet as the Silver Millennium was formed to do, you will see the truth and end this lie. Your time ended with the fall of the Silver Millennium. Join the rest of your people and succumb to the great silence."

Serenity tried to think of a counter argument, but none would come to her. The more she tried to think of a reason to justify her right to live, the more she realized Hotaru was correct. Not even the efforts of her love and daughter helped. Dropping her head and arms slightly she began to give in. Her efforts not so full hearted, Hotaru's attack grew closer. But then a conversation she had with father Morgan came to her mind.

"Usagi-sama you have a destiny to fulfill. You are the chosen one; you will bring Utopia to everyone. I knew this from the moment you healed me. It was further confirmed when I heard of the prophecy which foretold your birth and fall of your kingdom. Know this, before you can come fully into your power, you will have to walk through fire.

"Don't worry about those of us who fall during the fires. We gladly make our sacrifice so that you can achieve your destiny. Only you can bring heaven to Earth and protect us from those who wish to destroy it. The consequence of you failing is far greater than the price we will pay for you to accomplish your task."

Gaining strength from those words of Morgan, she straightened her back. "I think not, the people of this planet need me, I will give them the utopia of Crystal Tokyo. If I was gone, who would protect the people of this planet from demons like this Death Phantom? He would have attacked whether or not the Dark Moon rebels existed; they were merely a convenient set of tools for him."

Pausing for a moment, she looked Hotaru in the eye. "Let me heal you." She pleaded with the dark haired girl one more time. Beside her Endymion and ChibiUsa's auras began to glow and energy streaked from their hands into her crystal. Golden energy came from the Earth prince and pink from their daughter.

"Moon Healing Esca…" Serenity began, but before she could finish her spell to her horror the crystal shattered.

From where they had pulled themselves to their knees, the fallen Sailor Senshi's eyes went wide as they all cried out "NO!" in horror.

For the first few moments the shattered fragments of the Ginzuishou moved forward against the tide of Hotaru's attack. But then the unrestrained wave of Hotaru's attack swept them up and plunged into Serenity. There was nothing anyone could do but watch in horror as the deadly ribbons impacted into Serenity's chest lifting her into the air and backwards. And then the razor sharp fragments joined the ribbons and began slicing into Serenity, not one of them failing to hit her.

When the attack was over, princess Usagi and Endymion lay knocked to the ground from when the attack had hit Serenity and Serenity lay in a crumbled form in the opening that Hotaru had previously made in the wall. The silver hair's girl chest was barely rising with her now very labored breaths as her crescent moon began to fade. Along her body, Hotaru's ribbons continued slipping in and out. While her eyes were open, her mind was barely there, which was a good thing as she would have otherwise been blinded by the pain of the ribbons and her multiple broken ribs, broken legs, and a shattered right arm. And then as Serenity's body began to glow silver, the Senshi all began shedding some tears.

"Momma, momma!" Usagi cried out between sobs as she broke down in tears.

Beside his daughter, Endymion's world collapsed as Serenity's life was cut short. She was everything to him, his reason for living after his kingdom fell, the light in the darkness of his orphan life here in the present. Stunned beyond being able to form a coherent reaction to what had just happened his mind began shutting down, not wanting to acknowledge reality. As he his own will to live began to journey through his link to Serenity and to oblivion he saw Usagi. Tears running down her face as her body shook uncontrollably with tears, he reached out to pull her into his arms and some of his will to live began to return – so that he could take care of her.

But then as the silver light faded away and everyone expected to see a lifeless body or maybe even nothing, they were all shocked as Serenity began to slowly pick herself up. "How?" was a question more than one suddenly very tired Senshi asked, amazed that their princess was still alive and then they were even more amazed when they realized that her injuries from before appeared to have been healed. For his part Endymion had to hold onto his daughter tight to prevent her from running over to where Serenity now stood, knowing that the battle would be rejoined very quickly.

Looking more closely at Serenity, they saw that she was wearing her Sailor Fuku again, however this time it was different. Instead of the outfit she had worn since the battle in the artic, this one was nearly pure white with many of the frills of the previous fuku gone. The only color on her fuku now was a series of vertical strips on the front of her skirt and the yellow fabric covering her shoulders. And then even more surprisingly the crescent moon was gone from her forehead, replaced instead by a large star burst. She still had her wings, arcing out majestically from her back and upon standing she had summoned a long silver staff. Again the staff was far less ornate than her previous ones and was adorned simply with a crystal sphere and a pair of small wings at one end.

If Pluto had been present in the room at the time, she would have dropped to her knees in recognition of her one true liege while at the same time screaming in her mind over how things had changed so much. Hotaru had succeeded in killing Sailor Moon, the Moon princess was no more. But as Sailor Saturn was the soldier of both death and rebirth, the energy of the attack had also given Sailor Cosmos the phoenix ability to arise from the ash. However, Sailor Pluto was not there so no one knew the gravity of what had just happened, not even Sailor Cosmos. To her, she had only a few moments before felt the last of her life slipping away as she realized that she had failed Hotaru. But then somehow something had saved her and now she had a second chance to not fail Hotaru.

_ How is that possible? There is no way she could have survived a full hit from my Death Reborn Revolution, especially with it having been enhanced by the power of the grail. _ Hotaru thought to herself as she too was riveted in position, not even considering for the moment that her opponent had also healed herself.

Hotaru's contemplation came to end though, when Cosmos gave a powerful downward swoosh of her wings and took to the air. The battle returning to the forefront of her mind, Hotaru also moved into action. Releasing Rubeus's trademark set of black spheres of energy, Hotaru was not surprised when Cosmos easily dodged the attack. That was to be expected, instead she had used them to distract her opponent while she setup to unleash another blast from her grail.

Up in the air, Cosmos knew she could not dodge the second incoming attack and so she instead crossed both of her arms in front of her body and then to her surprise she formed a shield of ice, which blocked that attack. Not pausing to ponder how she had created that shield she instead let her staff vanish as she dove towards Hotaru. Reaching halfway to girl, she brought her hands together and unleashed rings of fire from her outstretched palms before pulling out of her dive.

As expected, Hotaru easily blocked the attacks before retaliating. And so began a ranged battle between the two opponents, each of them blocking and then unleashing an attack before moving quickly to another part of the room hoping to find a position that would give them some kind of an advantage.

From where they lay, the Sailor Senshi could not believe their eyes. They had never seen Usagi fight this good before. While she had recently gotten fairly good with all of her added training, both Senshi and the martial arts class that her father sent her to, she was still far from achieving this level. And then there was the issue of the various attacks she was using, none of them being anything like her usual ones.

Seeing Cosmos unleash a shower of energy beams, Mars suddenly realized what seemed so odd about the attacks. "She, she's copying our attacks." Mars whined to the others.

Venus opened her mouth to argue the point, but closed it when she saw her princess form a sphere of water similar to Neptune's deep submerge before throwing it at Hotaru. Instead, Venus just nodded her agreement.

"What I want to know is how she survived that blast, and what about the Ginzuishou. To my eyes she appears to be even stronger than before, not to mention she is putting us out of our jobs." Uranus said.

Pulling out her Mirror, Neptune looked at it and almost dropped it. Looking back again she spoke, her words unsure, "It is her, she in the chosen one. She is the Messiah of Light."

Rei was about to comment about how could Odango-atama be the Messiah, but then thinking about it she instead said, "That makes perfect sense to me. However, that does not explain how a blast that was supposed to kill her only mode her stronger."

"I don't know, all I know is that she and the crystal are now one. As for her power, she is drawing on the power of the 8 planets." Neptune replied.

"I didn't think she could draw upon the power of Earth, unless Endymion physically touches her." Mercury stated.

"Earth is not one of the eight."

"But there are only seven of us, unless. But there is no Senshi for Saturn awaken yet."

"I don't know why, but if it is Saturn. Then Saturn is the reason why the princess is able to fight that solider of darkness." Neptune said while pointing to the very bright energy stream heading towards their princess.

* * *

From where they stood by the machine that had opened the gateway, Rubeus, the Death Phantom and Tomoe watched the unfolding battle in awe. Tomoe his mind still controlled by the crystal fragment only thought of how strong and healthy his daughter looked, never considering that what had made Hotaru Hotaru was now gone.

The Death Phantom was disturbed however when he saw Serenity somehow survive and become even stronger after that attack from Hotaru. No longer so sure of his inevitable victory, he realized that he needed to take his new form quickly. Once he was in the body of that child he would be able to pull the power of the Ginzuishou out of Serenity. Looking over at the rabbit, he saw to his delight that that she was relatively unprotected. Yes, Endymion was with her but he was obviously not expecting an attack and he was far less of a challenge than any of the rest of his protectors. Sending a quick mental order to Rubeus, the two of the teleported over to their target.

* * *

From where he stood with an arm wrapped around his daughter, Endymion watched his love wield her power in a battle that was one that bards would have immortalized in song and story had they seen it for there in front of him was a classic example of the yin and the yang. By this point the two fighters had now moved on from using ranged attacks and were instead clashing together their staffs in an attempt to bring the other down. With each attack, the two warriors were pushed apart by the violent release of energy that occurred each time the staffs touched each other.

So caught up was he in the unfolding battle, that he had forgotten about Rubeus and the Death Phantom. And so it came as a surprise when upon sensing something he turned his head and saw Rubeus floating only a meter or so distant from him. Eyes widening in alarm, he was unable to do anything before Rubeus had blasted him. Returning to his feet, his alarm grew even greater when the Death Phantom suddenly appeared next to his daughter. Running to save Usagi, he drew his sword but was unable to reach her before the Wiseman had grasped a hold of the young girl with his own bony hand and the two of them had vanished.

However, Endymion did not let the kidnapping of his daughter falter him. There was still one participant in the kidnapping standing in front of him and leaping forward into the air he called upon the Earth to give him the strength to smite this foe. Then as he reached the apex of his leap he began bringing his sword down, which was now shimmering golden energy. Unable to get out of the way in time, Rubeus tried to block the attack with a shield spell. But within seconds the sword had overwhelmed his defenses and cut quickly and deeply into his side, leaving a long gash. As bad as the cut was, the pain from the blade of the sword was minor in comparison to that Rubeus was now experiencing from the sword's energy. With the golden energy of the Earth burning away at his soul, Rubeus felt his body go limp as he fell to the ground. Now barely able to focus his eyes, the last thing he saw was the cursed blade once again plummeting towards him and then his dead body lay on the ground, unworthy of any purification.

* * *

With the prize in his hand, the Death Phantom rematerialized beside the gateway. Everything was going perfectly now, in but a few moments he would be able to transfer his essence to body of this child and then he could begin consuming this world. Feeling the rabbit try to struggle, he looked down at the child and grinned, there was nothing that she could do. And with that he began to forcibly channel his pitch black soul in the child.

For her part, Usagi tried to fight back at first struggling against the strangle hold that she was in and then against the mental invasion. As she fought, the horrors from her previous encounter with the Death Phantom came to mind and she remembered how he had once before turned her against her parents and friends. Not wanting to let that happen again, she tried to call upon the power of her shadow crystal as the pain of what the Death Phantom was doing to her continued to increase. As she fought she began to think that the struggle was hopeless, but then her confidence began to sore as she felt one of her moonbeams begin to build. Knowing that one of those blasts would be enough to buy her sometime, she began to smile.

But that smile was quickly wiped from her face by the Death Phantom. Realizing what Usagi was about to do, he unleashed the entire power of his being into Usagi. As he did so, he crackled, "Sorry my little one, not today." And with that, Usagi screamed one final time before her body went limp as her Sailor Fuku faded away to leave her street clothes behind. On her forehead a dim crescent moon birthmark now glowed. And with that, the rabbit was ready to be possessed.

* * *

Feeling more than seeing the attack on her daughter, Cosmos paused in her attack on Hotaru to scream "ChibiUsa-chan!" while simultaneously falling to her knees.

Following Cosmos's gaze, Hotaru saw the girl who had only a while earlier been her best friend go limp in the Death Phantom's hand. Seeing that sight somehow managed to for the moment shatter the hold that the Death Phantom held over her as memories of ChibiUsa came back to her. Letting the silence glaive fall to the ground with a clang, Hotaru slumped down onto her knees as well.

Not noticing the change that had overcome Hotaru, Cosmos spread her wings once again and took the air. Flying as fast and as hard as she could, she could only think of one thing killing that creature. Dark emotions which rarely tainted her soul now were the only things she could think about as she began charging her staff to unleash a deadly attack. About ready to dive bomb that demon, she was suddenly sent spiraling out of control when the Death Phantom summoned a defensive barrier in front of her right wing.

Now turning his attention to his little Firefly of Destruction, the Death Phantom realized that she was no longer under his control. But it was a simple matter to increase the energy that he was using to bind her to his will. And as he did so he told his tool, "You can't fight my power. You know it's your destiny to join with me."

For her part, Hotaru did try to fight the Death Phantom's attempt to regain control. She tried to hold onto to those happy memories of ChibiUsa, but it was a loosing battle and one by one those memories began to fade away. And before long she was struggling to hold on to one final memory of her friend – when they had first met.

_ Don't fight the darkness, embrace it. _ a regal voice said in her head.

_ Huh? _ was Hotaru's response to the voice telling her to give in to what she was fighting so hard against.

_ Firefly you are the darkness, it is your birthright. Only by embracing it can you avoid having it consume you. _

_ But… _ Hotaru tried to argue, not wanting to become the killer that this demon was trying to make her into again.

_ Don't fear the darkness; it has protected you and my granddaughter in the past. Embrace that power now. _

Realizing that she really had no other option as she barely could even remember ChibiUsa's face, Hotaru began to embrace the darkness. And very quickly she felt her mind drowning in that blackness as she felt herself being overwhelmed by the desire to bring about death and destruction. Panicking Hotaru tried to push back against the darkness, but it was no use and the last fragments of her memories of ChibiUsa vanished. Gathering her resolve she turned and dove down into the depth of the darkness as fast as she could before she could loose her resolve.

As she dove she found that the darkness was no longer quite so black, instead she found that the blackness was tinged with a violet light, a light that became stronger the farther she dived. Finally reaching the source of the light she found an alternate her wearing a Sailor fuku and cloaked in shadows holding a glowing crystal. Then as this alternate her turned her face to regard Hotaru, she once again wanted to run away for the look on her other self's face was one that the innocence of Hotaru never wanted to have.

But Hotaru knew she did not have a choice, it was either take this soldier of the night into her soul or give her body and soul over to that demon forever. Taking tepid steps forward, Hotaru reached out and grabbed a hold of the crystal that her other self was holding. All the while this other self neither said anything nor did she make any moves. All she did was to coldly regard Hotaru with the assessing eyes of someone who had fought many hard battles.

As soon as she took the crystal into her hand and brought it to her chest, her other self raised her face fully out of the shadows and gave a heart warming smile before dissolving into motes of lights. The motes of lights now looking like fireflies began to circle around Hotaru surrounding her in a cylinder of light. Closing her eyes, Hotaru could feel the warmth of the crystal as it began to pulse in turn with her heart. Pulling it in even closer she smiled as the crystal gave one final warm blanketing pulse before vanishing.

* * *

As Hotaru was diving through who she was, the Death Phantom began to feed more and more energy into the shard in the young girl's body. Cursing in an ancient tongue he realized that he was loosing control of this girl and that soon Serenity would have her on his side. While he was sure she would not pose a problem once he took possession of the rabbit's body, the possession would take a few minutes. Minutes, that he was quickly realizing that he was not going to have. And so ignoring the rabbit for the moment he focused all of his energy on trying to regain control of Hotaru.

But as Hotaru whispered the words "Saturn Planet Power Make-Up!" he knew he had failed.

As the words were whispered, Hotaru's body suddenly exploded outwards in a violent explosion of violet energy. After shielding their eyes from the flash, the others dropped their arms to see that all that now remained of Hotaru was dozens of what looked to be fireflies, fireflies which begun to swarm closer and closer together, forming into a body. Then with a ripple the body solidified into the final Sailor Senshi of the Silver Millennium – Sailor Saturn.

Looking down at her hands Sailor Saturn saw that she was still holding the grail. Not yet sure of this new power of hers or even sure if she really wanted to fight, she instead looked over to her side where her best friend's mother stood. Catching Cosmos's eyes, she said "Usagi, catch." before tossing the grail over to the other girl. Glad to be rid of that powerful artifact, Saturn allowed her body to fall down to her knees as her mind tried to come to cope with everything that had just happened.

Having watched Hotaru fight her internal battle from the expressions on the young girl's face, Cosmos was very glad when she heard those five words that the girl had whispered. She almost broke down in tears when those words had apparently caused the death of Hotaru, but then rejoiced when she realized that they were just dissolving away the evil of the Death Phantom by renewing Hotaru's body. Now with the complete confidence that shortly everything would be back to normal for the Hotaru, Cosmos caught the offered grail and turned to face off against the Death Phantom.

But then in a cruel twist of fate with a bone chilling scream, the smile was wiped off of Cosmos's face as her two golden spheres of energy impacted her back. She remained standing with her back arched forward for a few moments before the blindingly bright shining crystal that was her soul was forced out from the front of her chest. And with that her soulless, lifeless body crumbled to the ground.

Stunned by what had just happened, the others just watched helplessly as the crystal was caught by another warrior. Closing her hand around the star seed, Sailor Lead Crow smiled and said, "Mission Complete."

End Chapter

* * *

-I am sure that quite a few of you are not going to like where I just ended the chapter, especially since I rarely end with cliff hangers. However when I sketched out the battle between Usagi and Hotaru back when Gundam W was still showing on Cartoon Network this had seemed like a perfect place to put a break, thereby giving the Gundam W reference more impact. Anyways the chapter as it is quite long and writing the full climax of this book would have pushed the completion date off till the summer at the earliest.

-For those wondering about Sailor Lead Crow, yes Pluto's stasis barrier is now no more

-I hope everyone is correctly following the use of names for Usagi, ChibiUsa and Mamoru. Once Usagi takes her princess form, ChibiUsa and Mamoru takes their royalty forms as well and hence I begin to refer to those two by Usagi and Endymion.

-In case you are wondering Usagi does not know that she has become Sailor Cosmos or that anything was different.

-The "toys" that Viluy used are based on the Replicators from Stargate SG-1

-As far as stories to tide you over till next time here are my latest recommendations:

"Of Mikos and Mutants" by Sayingirl which you can find posted at by The Collector, who incidentally is also posting this story at Freedom of Speech Fan Fiction as well.

"Ranmazoku" by PansutoTarou5925 a Ranma-Slayers-Sailor Moon crossover of different sorts. Ranma is a "monster" from the Slayers universe and things play out from there. Hotaru also gets to play a darker prominent role in this story.

"Process of Elimination" by Brian Randall ). This story is primarily a Ranma Tenchi (OVA) crossover and takes place when the world is being faced with destruction. The primary Tenchi characters are Washu and Tsunami. Other series do get crossed in and in the later chapters also include heavier crosses with Sailor Moon.


	36. The Soul of the Cosmos

**The Fragility of Time**  
**BOOK TWO: "Falling Towards Apotheosis"**  
**The Fragility of Time BOOK TWO: "Falling Towards Apotheosis"**  
**Chapter 36: The Soul of the Cosmos**  
**Author: etj4Eagle**  
Email: http: Published: 3/26/05

Disclaimer: A reminder I own none of the characters of this story, all rights are owned by others. However, the unique circumstances of the story are mine. If you distribute the story, do only so freely and inform me of where you post it.

Straining against the silence being unleashed by Hotaru, Serenity had called upon all of her reserves to put forth the full power of the moon into her defense and attempt to free Hotaru from the Death Phantom's possession. Beside her, Endymion had used his link to the Earth to lend his love his support and Small Lady had added what she could as well. But even when combined together that power had been insufficient to stand against the Grail enhanced Silence. And so, Serenity's defense was slowly pushed backwards with the clash of powers eventually occurring at the Ginzuishou itself. However, when that the clash of powers reached the center of the Ginzuishou something happened that no one other than Pluto could have anticipated – the power of the Cosmos awoke.

This was only the second time since creation that the power of the Cosmos had awoken. The first was back during the founding of the colony that would one day become the Silver Millennium when General Serenity had woven from the powers of the Sol system the half soul of the cosmos – a crystal that would become known as the Ginzuishou. The ritual that had created the Ginzuishou had bounded it to Serenity's soul, but the power found General Serenity's soul lacking and so the power had gone to sleep. And through the ages, the power of the Ginzuishou slowly changed Serenity with the birth of each of her "daughters" until the final princess of the Moon Kingdom was born.

Tsukino Usagi, age 14, the warrior known as Sailor Moon, and the last princess of the Moon was not lacking and so the power of the Cosmos hatched from its crystalline egg. Instantly drawn to Usagi, the power of the Cosmos dove into the silver haired girl; healing her wounds as it restored a dead body to life. Now with a whole soul, Usagi opened her eyes. No longer was she Serenity or the warrior known as Sailor Moon, instead she was Sailor Cosmos herself.

And as the avatar of the Cosmos opened her eyes, she called upon her power, power that had been stored in the souls of eight of the planets of the Sol system. However, she was not able to maintain the full magnitude of her call for but a brief moment. For the soul of the Cosmos was born prematurely. The soul was supposed to mature for over another millennia before it was to be born during the downfall of Crystal Tokyo and following the return of the High Kings of the Earth.

Even without the full power of the planets at her disposal, Cosmos was still able to make use of their powers during her battle with Hotaru. But for the brief moment when she did posses the full power of the planets, the respective Senshi were powerless. For Mars, Venus, Mercury, Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune the flicker of their power went unnoticed, battered as they were. For Hotaru the effect was noted and discarded as an aftereffect of the attack which she had just used to kill Sailor Moon. But for Pluto, who was currently using her power to maintain a stasis field, the flicker was very noticeable.

The momentary interruption in the flow of temporal energy that was sustaining the stasis field was all that was needed to allow it to collapse, releasing its two prisoners back into the time stream. Given that the field was a temporal stasis field, it had not cost Pluto any energy to maintain the field, with the cost instead having to be paid entirely upon the dropping of the field. And so released back into the time stream, Pluto fell to her knees, her energy levels depleted. And as exhausted as she was, she remained upright on those knees for but a passing moment before releasing her staff and bending over so that her elbows were on the ground. Then taking some deep breaths, Pluto closed her eyes while she waited for the world to stop spinning. It took a few minutes for her to feel comfortable that she wasn't going to pass out, at which time she raised her body so that she was now sitting on her knees. Then picking up her staff she closed her eyes once again, this time so that she could begin to survey the river of time.

Her first task was to determine how much time had elapsed during her self imposed imprisonment. She already knew that worrying about Sailor Lead Crow was irrelevant that her foe was long gone from here, must likely having hightailed it out as soon as she was released. Unlike Pluto, Lead Crow would not have been adversely affected by having been cut off from the flow of time nor would she be feeling drained from having maintained the stasis field. And consequently Lead Crow would have at most been slightly nauseous upon being released. In probing time's river, Pluto realized to her dismay that not even a day had passed since she had created the stasis field _ How can that be? At least a year should have passed since I created the stasis field. It was supposed to release when ChibiChibi entered the timeline _. Then realizing that maybe for some reason Cosmos's child-self was here in the past, Pluto got to her feet as she began to use the Garnet Orb to mentally probe the timestream. And instantly she realized that it was not ChibiChibi which had disrupted her plans but something far worse for she had detected the unmistakable presence of Sailor Cosmos's awakening, something that caused her face to instantly go white. For one of the few times in her life as a Sailor Senshi, Pluto felt true fear for she knew how close things now were to going totally wrong. Now not wasting anytime, Pluto ran out of the Crown Fruit Parlor and into the streets. Finding Usagi was not going to be a problem for she could easily sense the clash of powers that were Cosmos and her opponent.

* * *

Having escaped from Sailor Pluto and her cursed time traps, Sailor Lead Crow took to the roofs of Tokyo as she tried to get a handle on the situation. In retrospect she realized that it had been foolish of her to give away her disguise like that. But she hadn't counted on Sailor Moon getting smart and abandoning her friends there in that restaurant. Of course she now realized that she was a fool to not think that Sailor Moon wouldn't eventually learn to think about her own safety.And then of course there was that little time trap of Sailor Pluto. Time mages and Sailor Soldiers with temporal powers were always an annoyance, and of course this system would have to have a Sailor Senshi who specialized in nothing but temporal magic.

Once she had figured that she had placed enough distance between herself and where she hoped Sailor Pluto was still lying on the ground, Lead Crow was just about to drop back down to the street level and reapply her disguise when a brilliant flash of light grabbed her attention. Following just moments behind that flash of light was a wave of immense energy, which swept past her body even before she had even begun to turn to find the source of the flash. By the time the thunder rumbled by her a few seconds later, Lead Crow's curiosity was peaked. So instead of making a move to hide in the crowds, Lead Crow began to cautiously approach the source of what she could tell was a massive magic battle.

Some minutes later, Sailor Lead Crow finally arrived on the grounds of the MugenAcademy. Now moving very cautiously, she approached one of the many holes that pop marked the grounds around the main laboratory building. Not wanting to get fried by the power that had cut out these holes, she paused beside one of the holes for a few moments while she felt the ebb and flow of the magic being thrown about below ground. Once she was satisfied that the hole was strictly the result of a stray shot and that it was safe to enter, she began to creep down through it and then into the basement laboratory. Finding a stack of computer equipment near where she had arrived, Lead Crow took cover behind them as she began to take stock of the battle that was being fought in front of her.

At first she did not recognize the Sailor Senshi that was fighting the black haired girl with the bladed pole arm, for it was the blast that had killed Sailor Moon that had drawn her initial attention. But after watching the two fight for a bit, she quickly realized that the unknown Sailor Senshi had the same shine as Sailor Moon. _ Guess that girl has learned how to tap into her power to a higher degree. Galaxia-sama will be pleased. _ The last thought being of course the result of knowing that Galaxia only wanted to receive mature stars, for only the true owner of the star could bring it to full maturity.

As the messiahs of light and dark fought their battle, Lead Crow was planning her own course of action. She realized that this would be the perfect time to steal Sailor Moon's star. From what she could tell from her hiding place, the other Sailor Senshi were out of commission and would not be a threat and with the exit behind her she would be able to quickly exit once the time came. All she needed was a good distraction that would allow her to get a nice clean shot on Sailor Moon, a distraction that the Death Phantom provide when he took the strawberry blond girl as a captive. Moving quickly to take advantage of the moment, Lead Crow crept out of her hiding place and then just as Hotaru overcame the Death Phantom's hold with the words of "Saturn Planet Power Make-up," Lead Crow unleashed her attack. Unnoticed by all present, the golden spheres raced across the floor of the laboratory and straight into the back of Sailor Cosmos.

The scream of utter pain from Cosmos as her soul was violently ripped from its moorings in her body instantly drew the attention of the all present in the room. As the Sailor Senshi looked on at Cosmos with visions blurred by blood and swelling they felt their stomachs drop through the floor as they saw her back straight and stiff as a board while the glow of her body began to concentrate in a single point in her chest before moving out of her body and crystallizing into a brilliant crystal. A crystal that was unlike the simple shape of any other star seed, but was a true multi pointed star looking in many ways like the destroyed Ginzuishou.

And as much as each of the fallen Sailor Senshi wanted to scream out in rage and kill this mystery warrior for what she had done, none of them could. Instead, with their spirit utterly crushed beyond hope, each one instead fell to the ground in despair wondering if there was any reason for them to keep on living now that they had failed Usagi. And it wasn't just that Usagi who was dead, but her daughter, ChibiUsa, was as good as dead as well. The young child now lay at the feet of the Death Phantom ready to be possessed by that vile creature. The thought that at least they would be able to join her in the afterlife shortly was their only conciliation.

Catching a hold of the stolen star, Sailor Lead Crow turned and made her departure; however as she got halfway up the tunnel, she paused. For some reason she no longer had the desire to escape from this disaster area and to return to her mistress in triumph. Instead she felt some need to stay and observe the battle for a while longer. After all there was this Sailor Saturn who had provide to be quite a match for Sailor Moon, Galaxia-sama would probably like to here about her. And Lead Crow figured that this girl probably also held a star. And getting intel on a future target was always a good idea. So with her desire to remain rationalized, Lead Crow crept back down into the laboratory.

* * *

For a moment there, the Death Phantom was afraid that his carefully worked out plan was about to come undone. But then that stranger had shown up and cut down Serenity with a single blow. That was a power that he wanted, but that was a matter for the future. For now he needed to take possession of the rabbit's body and then he would deal with his troublesome tool. Maybe he could make that girl believe that he had failed in his possession of the rabbit long enough for him to bring her back fully under his spell. She had so much potential as quite evidenced by her battle with Serenity that it would be a real shame to throw it all away by killing her. But he would do what he had to, his only goal here was the rabbit, anything else was a bonus – such as the death of Serenity.

Floating over to where the rabbit lay, he picked her up by her neck and held her at his eye level. Her body was now fully defenseless against the pending assimilation. Her meek mental defenses and the protective magic of the moon had all been shattered by his previous efforts. And with her now unconscious there was no way that she would be able to mount any kind of resistance. And so with an evil grin he began chanting the words of the spell that would condemn her soul to oblivion and give him her fresh, young, powerful body.

* * *

Sailor Saturn could only watch in stunned silence as Usagi was suddenly cut down where she stood. The body of her best friend's mother going stiff had caught her eye, riveting her attention on Usagi. And so like the rest of the Senshi, she watched in awe as Usagi's chest glowed with a residual golden light from the impact of the attack for a moment before a bright silver glow began rising from Usagi's chest. The glow seemed to rise until it was near the girl's head before what could have been described as a flower unfolded and a blindingly bright crystal was released to hover over the girl's head. As the crystal shimmered it took on a jagged appearance of a many pointed silver crystal before the magic of the attack pulled it back to Sailor Lead Crow's waiting hand. As soon as Lead Crow's hands curled around the crystal it was as if a life line was cut and Cosmos fell to the ground in a heap.

Watching all of this, Hotaru could only feel that it was her fault that Usagi was like this. If she hadn't allowed this Death Phantom to use her as his pawn, Sailor Moon and the rest of the Senshi would have been able to defeat him and ChibiUsa's mom would not be dead. _ ChibiUsa! _ Hotaru exclaimed in her mind following her thoughts of Sailor Moon. Now turning back to where the Death Phantom held ChibiUsa, she saw him trying to do something to the girl. Remembering something about him wanting to possess her, a will to fight suddenly came to her. No longer afraid of the deadly pole arm that she wielded or the power that she commanded at her finger tips, Sailor Saturn returned to her feet. Only one thought, saving ChibiUsa, was on her mind as she rushed the Death Phantom and sliced her glaive down through one of his arms - cutting the demon's robe in two. Quickly grabbing ChibiUsa as he dropped her, Saturn continued running and so did not see the formless haze that was the Death Phantom's body.

Once she had run a few paces away from the demon, she spun on her toes and turned to face the creature again. Still holding ChibiUsa in her arms her eyes widened in alarm when she saw the creature unleash a blast of energy at her in anger. Her mind unable to come up with any better options, Saturn raised her right arm while turning her body in an attempt to shield ChibiUsa. Screaming in pain as the blast hit her body and tried to eat away at her soul, she withered the blast so as to protect ChibiUsa. And then when it was over, she placed her friend down on the ground before turning back to fight this creature of evil, her desire to protect her friend not wavering.

"So you think you'll be able to face off against me little firefly? You forget that I am the one who gifted you with all that power you were using against Serenity before. Now that you have turned against me you are just a weak little human girl who can't hope to stop me." The Death Phantom declared as he prepared to blast Hotaru again. "There is still time for you to swear your loyalty to me. I know you care for the rabbit. Just think by joining with me you will be able to fight beside her for all of eternity."

"But if she did that she would not be standing beside the one that she care so much about." came a woman's voice from the shadows. Then taking a few steps into the light the speaker continued. "I don't know how you managed to awaken her Majesty's true form today, but know this foul demon between myself and Saturn you will be sent back to Hades." Then raising her staff into an attack position she whispered "Dead Scream."

Unprepared for the blast from his rear, the Death Phantom was knocked off his feet. However, he quickly recovered and unleashed a wave of dark energy at Sailor Pluto, causing the time Senshi focus all of her concentration on weathering the storm. Taking advantage of the momentary distraction that this Senshi was providing her, Hotaru took a few moments to make sure that ChibiUsa would be okay on the ground before returning to her feet to face the demon.

Seeing Saturn return to her feet, Pluto allowed a smile to cross the grimace of her face before the wave of dark energy from the Death Phantom swept her up into a wall. Hitting the wall hard, she flopped to the ground, but quickly returned to her feet just in time to see Hotaru unleash a vacuum blade from the tip of her Silence Glaive. While the attack was easily deflected by the Death Phantom that did not matter for it gave Pluto the time she needed to unleash another one of her attacks. And unlike last time, she remained quick on her feet so that she could avoid the demon's counter attack.

* * *

Sailor Lead Crow hidden in her hiding place and now feeling quite secure with the power that Sailor Moon's star radiated, watched the battle unfold between the Death Phantom and the two last standing Sailor Senshi of this star system. It was quite an amazing feeling, the power contained in this crystal; she had to remark to herself as she toyed with the star seed in her hand. Holding this crystal, she no longer felt any fear of what Galaxia might do to her. Absently she wondered if this crystal might be more powerful than all the other crystals in the galaxy combined – not that she was considering trying to usurp Galaxia's power. For some reason that objective was rejected ever more out of hand by her mind than any other time it might have crossed it.

Seeing Sailor Saturn take an energy blast from that demon in her stomach, Lead Crow had to wince. While they weren't allies, she could still sympathize over the beating that the two of them were now taking. The battle between the two Sailor Senshi and the demon had started out with the two side appearing to be nearly equally matched, but it was not long before it became apparent to her that those two were just not powerful enough to overcome the power of that creature, partially due to Saturn's obvious inexperience. About the only thing they had going for them was that they had managed to keep him from possessing that little girl. While she did not know exactly how possessing that girl's body would have helped him, she did know that at minimum a nice young body would have allowed that creature to command even more power and if that girl had some kind of special magic connection as she suspected, well the creature would have become unstoppable.

And so, Lead Crow continued to watch the battle, all the while rolling the crystal in her fingers. And with each trade of blows, she found herself drawn more and more towards the battle, with any thoughts of returning to Galaxia fading quickly away. And then to her surprise she even found herself beginning to root for the two Sailors, especially the younger one. _ Hmm… I wonder if I can absorb this crystal? _ Lead Crow thought to herself after Pluto and Saturn took a very nasty beating from the demon. Now standing upright and no longer leaning on the wall of the tunnel, Lead Crow brought the crystal up to her eye level for a moment to gaze into to its infinite complexity. Then wrapping her fingers fully around it, she brought it back down to her chest level and held it against her heart. Almost immediately she began to feel it slipping into to her chest and its power radiating through her body.

As soon as the last point of the crystal slipped into her chest, a fountain of energy erupted around her feet as she felt the crystal burning her body away from the inside. _ What is happening to me? _ she wondered as her vision was engulfed in the pillar of energy. But then as quickly as it had appeared it was gone. Looking down at her body to make sure it was still in one piece, she noticed that her Fuku was still intact – though a bit charred in some places and streaked with silver in others. Her gauntlets hadn't fared quite so well, they were still there – but there were now hairline cracks all over them. _ Better hope that no one realizes that those are my Achilles heel, otherwise I am in big trouble. _ Lead Crow thought to herself. But other than that, she felt perfectly fine and she was quite amazed at the level of power she now knew she had at her finger tips. And so deciding that it was time to stop hiding in the shadows, she left to join the fight.

* * *

Saturn was still trying to shake the cobwebs out of her head from the last blow she had taken when she looked up and saw the Death Phantom floating above her prone form and he was already forming a second blast with his crystal ball. Looking over to her left she saw that her Glaive lay a few meters off to the side – useless. Moving was out of the question – she had been knocked into a corner and her mind was still not clear enough to try to summon that protective barrier again. _ I'm sorry ChibiUsa-chan, I have failed you. Gomen-nasai. _ she said in her mind as she moved her lips to the words. Then closing her eyes, she awaited for the final blow – a blow that never came.

Instead she heard the words, "Galactic Tsunami." and could feel a large mass of energy pass close by her body. When a minute passed without a killing blow coming, she opened her eyes and was shocked to see that woman who had cut down Usagi fighting the Death Phantom. Confused as to why she was helping them; Saturn, however, did not let that confusion slow her down. Quickly returning to her feet and she rushed over to her side to retrieve the Glaive and unleashed a blast of energy from the weapon before moving to join their new "ally" in fighting the Death Phantom.

* * *

From where Pluto had gotten thrown by the Death Phantom when he had taken her and Saturn down, she had felt horror at what she saw when she managed to return to her feet with that creature hovering over Saturn. Knowing that she was too late to save Hotaru, Pluto let her rage and sorrow fuel a Dead Scream more powerful than any she had cast before – hoping to avenge the death of her foster daughter even if she could not save the girl. Of course she wasn't yet the foster mother for Hotaru, but that didn't mean that she wasn't still feeling the love and remembering the memories from all of the other timelines. Normally during the activities of the Death Busters that part of the timeline was hidden from her – so that she could do her duty. Of course that always made learning the truth about Hotaru after her death in the helicopter even worse for the time guardian. But this time around, she had retained all of her memories of the future – the only way to allow her to properly fix the damage to the river of time. And so even though it wasn't the case and appeared that it might never be the case, to Pluto Hotaru was her daughter.

But then to her unbridled relief an unexpected blast hit the Death Phantom. Looking over to its owner, though already knowing who it was from based on the name of the attack; Pluto was still surprised to see Sailor Lead Crow there. She had thought that the Animate had returned to her master Sailor Galaxia after securing Usagi's star seed. She might not have been present for the theft, but she had clearly felt its repercussions in the river of time as she had been running towards this place. Of course, Sailor Lead Crow was probably just trying to play the two sides off of each other until both were too tired to fight anymore and then she could take all of their star seeds and kill this creature as well. Getting a good look at Lead Crow's uniform as she adjusted her aim, Pluto thought to herself _ I don't seem to recall her uniform having those streaks of silver. _ before she unleashed her Dead Scream, which nailed the Death Phantom.

* * *

Noticing that Saturn, _ Hotaru _ her mind told her, had returned to her feet, Lead Crow released a little sigh of relief before grinning quite maliciously at the Death Phantom. "You know I have to thank you quite a lot for presenting me with the perfect opportunity to take Sailor Moon's star. You have no idea how much power was in that child's body. I guess I can count myself lucky that she hadn't learned how to control any of it yet, otherwise in my previous encounters I probably would have been vaporized. However, I don't think I will be quite so generous with you." Lead Crow said and then reaching her left arm out straight while standing sideways, she reached forward with her right and hand and pulled back as if using a bow and a bow and arrow composed of crackling blue flame appeared. "Flame-lightning Sniper." were the words that Lead Crow said before unleashing that deadly blue flame into and through what might have once been the heart of that creature.

Reacting in pain from the attack, the Death Phantom unleashed an unfocused attack, knocking his three attackers to the ground, though doing nothing more to them. However, the attack wasn't meant to hurt, but buy himself some time to recover. Knowing that the tide of battle had turned against him now that this powerful unknown third party had decided to join the battle, the Death Phantom began to look for a way to regain the upper hand. Forced to quickly move out of the way to avoid a pair of attacks from Pluto and Saturn, his eyes spied the unconscious body of the professor. _ Hmm… That pathetic human is the father of my former pawn Sailor Saturn. While I had suppressed her feelings of him, I am sure they are fully returned now and he does already have a demon inhabiting his body. _ And with those thoughts, the Death Phantom decided that he had need of this pawn yet again and so it was time to bring him back from the slumber he had commanded the human into. But as he awoke Tomoe, he also awoke the demon in his soul and with a blast of energy into the crystal shard, severed the ties of the demon to its master and reforged them to himself.

Of the three Sailors, Saturn was the first to take notice of the transformations that her father was undergoing, having instantly recognized his screams. "Father." she whispered as she saw his body racked by seizures. Taking a step over towards him, she only barely noticed an attack barreling her way. Quickly jumping out of the way, she was almost in time to avoid it, but the attack still managed to clip her feet and she fell to the ground with a thud. But her attention was so focused on her father that she barely noticed. Lying there on the ground, she saw his body begin to bulge in various places as suddenly the eye patch he had worn since the accident shattered.

Screaming in pain, Tome clamped a hand over his eye as he sank to his knees. But with the warding barrier broken, the demonic aura from within his body began to shine out into the daylight, escaping through the cracks in his fingers. Bringing his other hand to clamp down on top of the first in a futile attempt to seal in the demon, Tomoe was too late. Already the skin around his eyes was beginning to flake away, while the demonic light began to burst through other points along his body.

From where each of the Sailors stood they could only watch in horror as Tomoe was consumed by the demon that he had been harboring all of these years. At first the release of the demon was simply the flaking away of skin around the various points on his body where the demonic aura began to shine through. But before long, his left arm exploded in a bloody mess to reveal the arm of a demon, a process that was soon repeated across the rest of his body.

Suddenly sick to her stomach, Saturn relieved herself of her lunch. With tears streaming down her face, she was stunned motionless while that creature that had moments ago been her father walked over to where she lay on her arms and knees.

"What's wrong muzume? You feeling a little sick to your stomach? Here let me help." the creature said before giving Saturn a hard kick in the gut. The kick was delivered so as to knock her straight up into the air where he then proceeded to give her a second punch, this time to her face, crushing her nose.

"Bastard, you sick bastard. World Shaking." Uranus called out from where she was barely standing on her feet. The cruelty of what the Death Phantom had just done to Hotaru overwhelming her with rage, making her forget that just a few moments ago Hotaru had been an enemy.

Not expecting an attack from that direction, the demon had been caught off guard; however, Uranus's attack barely had any strength in it. But, deciding not to take any chances, the creature ran over to where Uranus had now fallen back to her knees. Seeing that new demon coming their way, the fallen Sailors began trying to call on what little energy they could in an attempt to protect Uranus. Though the effort ended up for vain, for as the creature closed in on them it ripped of its left arm and with a throw it tossed it at them. Startled by its action, they were completely caught unaware by its subsequent detonation – an explosion that knocked each of them hard back to the ground while reversing their Sailor transformations.

_ Ewe, what kind of creature is this? _ Lead Crow thought to herself as she watched the demon casually rip off one of its arms so that it could use it as an explosive against a group of essentially helpless girls. _ Though at least it now has only one arm. _ she added, when she realized that this demon did not appear to have any kind of regenerative powers.

Saturn was just returning to her feet when she saw the thing that was once her father turn back towards the three of them after having taken care of the others. Trying to focus her mind so that she wouldn't think about how this creature had once been her father, she couldn't help but notice the demonic blood that flowed from the stump of its left arm. _ Why is this all happening to me? Is it because I was not content with living with my illness and wanting to be health? _ Hotaru wondered, trying to make sense of everything that had happened and again wrestling with whether she could truly take up the mantel and be a Sailor Soldier.

"How dare you defile the love of a daughter for her father. In the name of the Moon I will punish you." Sailor Lead Crow said before forming a golden discuss of ice and throwing it at the Death Phantom. _ Now where did that come from. _ Sailor Lead Crow thought to herself as she earned herself surprised looks from both Saturn and Pluto. _ I hope this doesn't mean that I am going to drop to the level of stupidity of Sailor Moon. _ Lead Crow thought to herself with a shudder as she realized one possible reason why she had just made a Sailor Moon style speech. Unfortunately as focused as she was on that fear, she didn't notice how she was walking and with a yelp promptly fell flat on her face as she proceeded to trip herself.

Unable to avoid giggling at Lead Crow, Saturn felt her worries begin to fade away. And then hearing some more giggling she looked off to the side where she had placed ChibiUsa and was rewarded by a smile from her best friend. "I believe in you Hotaru-chan." ChibiUsa said when her and Hotaru's eyes locked.

"Arigatoo ChibiUsa-chan." Saturn said softly and she adjusted her grip on her glaive so that she held it now in a ready position. This time charging the blade with as much healing energy as she could muster, she dropped her body into a crouch and focused in on the creature that was once her father. Not even realizing it, her vision slipped out of the normal spectrum and into one of life energy – allowing her to locate the "heart" of this demon.

"So it looks like little Hotaru-chan has decided that she wants to play for real. I guess I must have hurt her feelings when I hurt her friends." the demon said with a laugh. Confident as it was in its ability to handle this child warrior, it did not notice how Saturn's eyes began to glow violet as her vision changed. Though, both Pluto and Lead Crow did notice and the two of them let out a gasp up surprise. For Pluto the gasp was one of surprise over the child using one of her more advanced powers and for Lead Crow it was over wondering what this change meant, but knowing that it couldn't be good for that demon.

And then, the coiled energy in Saturn's legs released and she was dashing towards the demon. Easily dodging the lump of flesh that it had ripped out from its side, Saturn moved her glaive out to her left side with the blade pointed towards the demon and angled just slightly upwards. And then with a slight rise in her step as she passed her demon, she cut into and through the demon in an upwards arc. Though, before the blade had even left the body violet energy exploded outwards from the cut.

Screaming in pain, the demon fell to its knees. Looking up at Saturn who was now standing beside it, it now saw that her eyes were aglow with violet light. "How could you do this to your own father?" the creature asked "You know you are a murder know?"

"You are not my father." was all that Saturn said before she raised her glaive above her head. "I'm sorry father for not being able to save you, but at least your soul will be able to rest in peace." Saturn whispered to herself before slammed the tip of the glaive down into the demon with the word "Purification." And as the glowing blade of the glaive pieced through the demon and into the floor below, the creature was blown apart into fading dust in an explosion of violet light.

Stunned that this girl had been able to kill the creature that had been her father only moments ago, the Death Phantom took his attention off of Sailor Lead Crow. Moving quickly to capitalize on the Death Phantom's mistakes, Lead Crow brought her arms together and then bringing them down, she unleashed a half dozen of the soul stealing spheres. Sensing the attack, the Death Phantom turned just in time to watch all six of the spheres slam into his body. Lifted off the ground by the attack, the Death Phantom remained suspended there as energy began to flow out of his body and circle around the crystal sphere that he was always working in his hands. And then when the energy that made the creature had been fully extracted from his body, the crystal ball fell to the ground to lay a top of what were now empty robes.

"Saturn." Pluto called out to get the young girl's attention, knowing that she was the only one of the three of them that could deliver the final killing blow to the Death Phantom.

Hearing her name, Saturn looked up from the where her glaive now stood alone in the ground. Seeing the crystal ball and robes that Pluto's body language was indicating, she pulled her glaive out of the ground. Walking towards the remains of the Death Phantom, she this time let all of the rage she felt for what had happened today flood through her body – the attempted possession of ChibiUsa, the death of her father and Eudial, the death of Usagi. Her body now incased in black energy from her rage, the other two were forced to draw back to avoid being hurt by her aura, a very real concern giving the sizzling of the concrete where she had taken her last few steps.

"Death Reborn Revolution." Saturn said in a cold voice, causing Pluto's blood to run cold as the girl swung her glaive up and over her head. With her arms fully extended and the pole arm reaching high above them, Pluto could plainly see the deadly ribbons of destruction gathering along the length of the blade of the Silence Glaive. Saturn seemed to pause in that position for an eternity before she slowly at first, but more quickly with each moment swung her glaive down and cleanly sliced into the crystal ball. Reacting instantly upon meeting the crystal ball, the ribbons exploded outwards – consuming the entirety of the ball along with the robes. But that was the extent of the Silence.

Dropping her glaive, Saturn fell to the ground as unconsciousness overtook her body. Releasing a sigh of relief Pluto turned to regard Sailor Lead Crow, not sure of what was going to happen now.

First looking down at her cracked gauntlets for a moment and then looking up at Pluto, Lead Crow spoke: "Sailor Senshi of the Silver Millennium you do not need to fear me. I am no longer an adversary. In calling up the power of this star …" at which point the star seed exited from her chest to rest back in her hand, "my mind was freed of the control that Sailor Galaxia had placed over it. I am sorry for what I have done, I only wish there was a way to bring this pure hearted warrior back."

Not exactly sure how to react, after all it was her princess who was the one always forgiving their enemies, Pluto tried her best. "As much as I and the others might want to be angry at you, I know that our princess has already forgiven you and would want us to do the same. There is a way to reanimate a star seed; unfortunately it is a technique that is only known by Sailor Moon and Sailor Galaxia." Pluto said, regret in her voice at the end. _ Unfortunately for what you have done, all creation must cease to exist unless we can figure out a way to reanimate that star seed. _ Unsure of how to continue in any conversation, the two tired warriors, stood silently regarding each other, each lost in her own thoughts.

But they did not remain in those thoughts for too long as a cry of "Momma" drew their attention. Turning to look at ChibiUsa, they were surprised to see her sobbing over her mother's body. _ Nani-ka! _ both of them yelled in their mind as they realized that Usagi was still there on the ground. Yeah, her body was less substantial than a ghost at the moment, though somehow it was supporting ChibiUsa and rested partially in Endymion's lap, and motes of light swirled around it, but it was still there – something that should not be possible.

Pluto and Lead Crow turned their heads to look at each other and saw a matching expression of confusion on the other warrior's face. "How is that possible?" Lead Crow asked.

"I have no idea; there is no way her body should still be around now that you have her star seed." Pluto said as the two of them began walking towards mother and daughter.

"It's the Grail." Endymion said in a soft voice while indicating the cup that was clutched in one of her hands. "I can feel it sustaining her life." Then looking up to stare at Lead Crow with a cold stare he asked Pluto, "What is she still doing here."

"It is what her Majesty would have wanted. Sailor Lead Crow is no longer under the control of Galaxia."

Endymion looked on at Lead Crow for a few more minutes, his expression not softening until he finally let some of his anger go, knowing that Pluto had spoken the truth – Usako would have been the first to forgive Lead Crow here even if it had cost her her life. Giving a sigh, he turned his attention back to the barely alive body of his love. He knew that part of the anger he was directing at Lead Crow was over his own uselessness in the battle. Of all the warriors he was probably in best shape and he had wanted to have joined in that final battle against that demon, but with only roses and a partially mastered sword as his weapons he had been completely outmatched. And he had known that he would have been in just the way if had had fought along side them; instead he had taken to watching over his love's fading body.

Seeing Endymion accept her, Lead Crow spoke to him, "While what I did was unforgivable, I now at least have an opportunity to make amends."

"How?" Endymion asked.

Instead of answering him, Lead Crow dropped to kneel beside Sailor Cosmos, while carefully reaching her hands out, with the star seed cradled in her palms. Then lowering the crystallized soul to the young girl's chest she was rewarded by its glow increasing as her hands slipped inside of the currently ethereal body of her former adversary. For a moment she was worried when her hands slipped inside of Cosmos's body as well, but that fear was quickly vanquished when Cosmos's body began to glow more strongly and the motes of light began to be drawn back to the silver haired girl's body. Now smiling, Cosmos released the star seed from her hands and began to bring her hands back up and within moments of extracting them from the body of Sailor Cosmos, the girl's body became solid again and her eyes opened.

Opening her mouth to apologize, she was instead cut off by Cosmos. "I forgive you."

"Why?" Lead Crow asked.

"Because I can," Cosmos said with a smile as she reached an arm up and around her daughter to pull the now sobbing girl in for a much needed hug. "However there is one favor that I would like to ask of you." She asked while Endymion slowly lowered he body to rest fully and more comfortably now that she was holding Small Lady on the ground.

"Anything, my life is yours to command." Lead Crow said as she knelt before her new liege.

Not having the energy to deal with someone else wanting to be her servant, Cosmos decided to let it be for the moment and instead said, "If you could bring the black haired little girl here."

"Of course." And with that, Lead Crow quickly made her way over to where Saturn lay on the ground and collected both her and her Glaive. Then returning with the child she lay her down on the left side of Cosmos's chest so that Cosmos could wrap her free arm around the girl.

"Arigatoo." Cosmos said as she looked down at the two girls with a smile.

Coming up beside Lead Crow, Pluto looked down at her princess and the two children. She stood there just watching the three of them rest for a few minutes, while a couple of tears formed in her eyes before speaking, "It never ceases to amaze me how her trust and forgiveness always prove right in the end. No matter how bleak the situation looks even to my time sense she always chooses the path to the brightest future." Pluto said, more to herself than for Lead Crows benefit.

"I think I know what you mean. Just from seeing her star seed and then even more from holding it and especially from calling upon its power, I can tell that there is something special about that child. A more pure soul has never existed and the universe favors her so." Lead Crow replied after a few moments. And then a couple of minutes later she said, "I hate to mention this given how peaceful everything seems to be at the moment, but we should think about getting out of here soon. With the battle over, I am sure the authorities will soon build up enough resolve to begin to investigate this place.

"Hai you're right." Pluto replied. Then kneeling down on one knee she began to lightly shake Cosmos until the girl's eyes opened again. "We need to be going." Pluto told Cosmos once the unspoken question had formed in the girl's eyes.

"Hai." Cosmos said as she began sitting up, which is not the easiest task to do when you have a pair of sleeping girls laying on you. However, after much effort she was eventually able to get herself into a sitting position. Of course she had not considered the idea of rousing the two girl's first, instead having planned on carrying the two of them out. Though in the processing of sitting up she had managed to wake both of them up.

"Momma, you're okay." ChibiUsa exclaimed before latching onto Usagi with a bone crushing glomp. A glomp that was quickly mirrored by the now awake Saturn as well.

"Ack… Can't… Breath…" Usagi managed to wheeze out with the remaining air reserves in her lungs.

"Oops." The two girls chorused with a quickly smile.

"Its okay, this just means that I get to give you two one as well." Usagi said before she suddenly squeezed the two girls in a tight hug. As Cosmos wrapped the two girls up with both her arms and her wings, Pluto, Lead Crow, and Endymion couldn't help but smirk when they heard the air being forcibly ejected from the lungs of the two girls. The three of them stayed in that tight embrace for a few moments, before Usagi partially released the hug, relaxing her arms so that they just embraced each of the two girls while also pulling her wings back behind her back and leaning back against Endymion who was now sitting partially behind her with a loose arm around her waist.

Neither ChibiUsa nor Saturn made any move to away from where they were holding onto Usagi's chest as both of them needed the love and comfort that Usagi radiated. For ChibiUsa, she tightened her hand holds on Usagi's shirt as she buried her face against her mother's chest to hide the tears that were slowly falling down her face.

"Its okay muzume, I am here now and nothing is going to take me away from you." Usagi said as she gave ChibiUsa a comforting squeeze with her arm while also placing a light kiss on the girl's forehead.

As for Saturn, she was not in any better condition. Now with the adrenaline beginning to drain from her system, the darker memories of the battle began to come to her, chief amongst those being the death of her father. While the trained warrior portion of her soul knew that there was nothing that she could have done for her father that did not make it any easier for her to accept that she had killed just killed her own father. And while some thought that she was a freak before, now it was undeniably the case, no one would want anything to do with her. Her soul plunging into deep sorrow, she latched onto the only source of comfort that she had for the moment and let her fears ride out as a river of tears.

Both Usagi and ChibiUsa realized at the same time the change in Hotaru's deposition. And while ChibiUsa wanted to still bask in her mother's embrace she knew that her friend needed Usagi's comfort even more and so without being told moved off of Usagi's lap and to Endymion's. Even as ChibiUsa was doing that, Usagi was focusing all of her attention on the distraught child that she held. And now with both of her arms available she reached the other arm around Hotaru and adjusted the other girl's position so that Usagi was now cradling her against her chest while once again using her wings to wrap up Hotaru again. Then with Hotaru in the new position, Usagi rocked her back and forth as she let the girl cry while making soft soothing noises.

Once Hotaru's tears began to dry up and the girl was left with the occasional sob, Usagi placed a gentle kiss on the girl's forehead before saying, "Don't worry Hotaru-chan, while today is a day of sorrow, you still have a bright future in front of you."

Hotaru did not look back at Usagi as she replied, "No it isn't. I killed my father. I really am freak." Then having said that, she tried to pull away from Usagi, not feeling that she deserved any of the girl's comfort.

"Iie, you are wrong Hotaru-chan." Usagi replied as she prevented Hotaru from trying to pull away. And then using a hand to lift the younger girl's chin so that she could look into her eyes, Usagi continued, "That demon was the one who killed your father, all you did was allow his soul to rest in peace. You are not a freak. I am not going to forbid ChibiUsa from being friends with you after today."

"Demo…"

"No buts Hotaru. You are still my daughter's best friend and I am not going to let anyone call you a freak." Finally with those words, Usagi began to get through to the younger girl, as evidenced by the slight spark of hope that began to be reflected in Hotaru's eyes. "And do you know how I know that you want be called a freak anymore?"

_ What, you mean that you really are going to keep others from calling me a freak? _ Hotaru thought to herself as she now looked at Usagi with surprise and anticipation on her face.

"Because no one is allowed to call my daughter a freak. Not unless they want to face the wrath of Tsukino Usagi." Usagi said as she straightened her body to look all tough and strong while a wide grin was planted on her face.

Hotaru of course couldn't help but giggle at Usagi's silly pose and smile. But then her mind caught up with the first part of Usagi's statement. "Demo, how does that help me?"

"Because as of right now I am adopting you as my daughter, muzume." Usagi said as she laid a kiss on Hotaru's forehead, a kiss which left a faint starburst mark before she pulled the stunned girl in for a hug, a hug that after a few seconds Hotaru began to return in full force, a hug that was also quickly joined in by an exuberant ChibiUsa and then by Endymion as well.

"You mean it?" ChibiUsa asked as she began to hug her mother and new sister.

"Hai, I do." Usagi replied before giving each of the girls a kiss on their foreheads.

For the next several minutes, the three girls lost themselves in their mother-daughters hug while Endymion, from the side, proudly watched Usagi. Lead Crow looked on at awe at the scene in front of her, once again being reminded of how bright Sailor Moon's shine was. As for Pluto, she watched both happy and proud of her queen and stunned as well, stunned because Usagi had just prevented her from having Hotaru as her own daughter. Of course if she thought about it at all she would not have been that surprised, after all the only reason why she, Haruka, and Michiru normally ended up raising Hotaru as their own was because Usagi was shell shocked after returning from the battle with Pharaoh 90, allowing the other two to grab the infant Hotaru with no fuss. Otherwise, it would have been Usagi not the three of them raising Hotaru.

It was some time later when Usagi and her two daughters broke away from their own little world. And, after letting Hotaru and ChibiUsa climb off of her lap, Usagi returned to her feet to face Lead Crow and Pluto. Walking up towards Cosmos, Lead Crow greeted her former adversary with a very low bow before saying, "Sailor Moon thank you again for saving me from Galaxia. There is one final thing that I most humbly ask of you. You see these golden bracers that I wear; they are what allow Galaxia to control me. Your star seed broke her hold on me, but I am afraid that once she gets close she will easily be able to reassert her control again. So I beg of you to use your healing power to free my humble body of this entrapment."

Looking at the bracers that Sailor Lead Crow was indicating, Cosmos summoned her staff. Then raising her head to look at Lead Crow, she was about to say that it was no problem when she realized something else – something that Lead Crow had failed to mention. "You don't have a soul anymore do you?"

"Hai, that is correct. I lost mine long ago to Galaxia when she attacked my planet. Under her power she has forced me to commit many atrocities, including sadistically butchering my own son." Lead Crow explained and her example resulted in gasps of surprise from Cosmos, Endymion and the two girls. "However, I much prefer death than to be her puppet again."

Thinking of her own daughter, Cosmos knew that she would feel the same way if the situation was reversed. She just wished there was a way to not kill Lead Crow. _ Maybe the Grail has the power, Pluto did say that it was a very powerful artifact and it gave Hotaru quite a power boost. _ "Hotaru-chan could you go get the grail for me?" Cosmos asked.

"Hai," Saturn happily replied before hurrying over to where the grail was laying forgotten on the floor. Then returning with the Grail she handed it over to Cosmos.

_ I wonder, Hotaru has the gift of healing and she is a Sailor Senshi now. Maybe she might be able to help me. _ "Hotaru, I think you might be able to help me here. I want you to also hold on the Grail and follow my lead." Cosmos said.

"Hai." Saturn replied as she grasped a hold of the grail with one hand and began to feel not only her own energy, but that of the Grail and Usagi's power. As the two let their power build and mingle in the cup of the Grail, the two become of one mind. Working as one, the yin and yang of the Messiah opened her eyes. With white energy pooling into the left hand of Cosmos and black energy pooling into the right hand of Saturn, the two girls spoke in perfect unison with matching pitch and tone to their voices – though a pitch and tone completely different from the voice of either of the two. "Child of the star, you have proven yourself worthy to reclaim your shine, no longer shall you serve a failed star. Instead reclaim your true name of Sailor Erion." Then pausing for a moment, the eerie two-but-one voice called upon the power of the messiah with the words, "Shadow Moon Healing Escalation."

And with those words, the balls of energy that Cosmos and Saturn held in their hands began rising up and around the two of them in a spiraling helix. And when the leading edge of the energy streams would reach the ground or a foot above Cosmos's head they would reverse their vertical direction while also speeding up in their rate of spiraling. Before too long the two girls were completely obscured by the energy that was still streaming out from their outstretched palms and then with a final blinding flash of light that blinded everyone present the column vanish.

When they could see again; Sailor Cosmos and Sailor Saturn lay in a crumpled heap on the ground with the Grail visible nowhere. For Sailor Erion the golden bracers of bondage were no more and she could feel the power of her star once again radiating from her chest. Shaking her head in a futile attempt to clear the spots that still remained in her vision, Erion realized that her memories of her servitude under Galaxia were beginning to become fuzzy.

Confusion clearly visible on Erion's face, Pluto quickly realized what the problem was; after all she had felt the spatial rip that had just occurred along with the creation of yet another temporal paradox. "The fading of your memories is time bringing you in line. What you remember as the past is still over a year away from happening. As far as your star seed is concerned, your world only fell a few days ago. Sailor Cosmos, she took your star seed not from the time you come from but from the moment when Galaxia stole it. Consequently, you actions under Galaxia never occurred and those memories will fade. In the end all you will remember of your time under Galaxia are fragments of this battle."

"How… Why…" were words of unformalized questions that Erion whispered, as she wondered why Sailor Moon wasn't going to make her at least live with the memories of what she had done.

"Owe my head." The not quite so chip voice of Minako said as she returned to her feet. The healing blast that Saturn and Cosmos had unleashed had not been restricted to just Erion, it had also covered the rest of the occupants of the chamber, healing them of their worst injuries and revitalizing their bodies. And slowly one by one the group returned to their feet. While not quite sure as to what exactly was the situation, they were content to realize that at least it looked like they had won; they could wait for the details at a later point in time.

From where she had slumped to the ground, Cosmos also returned to her feet. However unlike the previous time, this time she was feeling very unsteady and was having to use her staff to help support her weight. But making a concerted effort to not let the others realize how bad she was off, she began walking over to where her friends were recovering.

"Minna-san are you okay?" she asked.

"Hai." The various voices replied. "A little banged up and I think we will be feeling this battle for some time to come." Makoto replied.

Unnoticed by the others, Ryo had gotten up and had walked over behind Usagi while she was confirming with her own eyes that they were okay. And so he was in the right position when her eyes suddenly rolled up into her head as her legs gave out. Catching the girl in his arms, he lowered her to the ground while the others cried out "Sailor Moon!" a cry that quickly changed to gasps of horror as Cosmos's fuku vanished.

The first of the girl's to react was Rei, who was beside Ryo within seconds. Quickly checking for a pulse she was distressed when she was barely able to find a very faint one. Then looking for Usagi's breathing, she noticed that it too was not good.

"Ami-chan what's wrong with Usagi?" Rei asked as Ami came up beside the three of them.

"I'm not sure, all her vital signs are plummeting and her energy appears to be destabilizing." She replied as she tried to make sense of what her scans were showing her.

Hurrying over to where Usagi now lay on the ground, Pluto hoped that whatever was affecting Usagi was something that Hotaru might be able to heal. However, her fear was that this was some how related to the awakening of Cosmos, since as far as she knew Cosmos required both Saturn and the full awakening of the Earth to awaken. And while, she guessed the battle with the power of Saturn might have qualified for the first part, the Earth's power was definitely not yet awake. But what that meant for the current situation she had no idea.

Pluto had barely even reached Usagi when Mercury's computer began emitting a constant unending beep, a warning whose meaning she knew all to well. Quickly searching her memory she realized that Haruka, who along with everyone else was now crowded around Usagi, knew CPR. And so reaching out an arm, she grabbed Haruka and pulled her down to the prone figure of Usagi. "Usagi's heart has stopped, you take care of the breaths, I will do the compressions."

"Nani-ka!" cried out Rei upon hearing that.

"Hai, Pluto's right." Ami was forced to admit.

"But we won, we defeated the enemy, healed the brainwashed warriors." Minako complained.

"But the Ginzuishou was destroyed. When it merged with Usagi it gave her a massive power boost, but at a cost." Ami quietly said.

"You don't mean?" Makoto asked.

"Hai, Usagi was only living on borrowed time."

From where Haruka and Pluto were administering CPR to the dieing princess, Haruka yelled to Usagi, "Come one Usagi-hime wake up." in between breaths. Unfortunately, yelling was no more effective than the CPR they were administering.

"Her blood oxygen level is dropping dangerously low; I just hope the paramedics I called get here soon." Ami said as she monitored Usagi's deteriorating condition.

"And my healing magic can't find anything to work on." Saturn said as she broke off her attempt to heal Usagi.

"What the?" Makoto asked in sudden confusion.

"Huh?" the others except for Haruka and Pluto responded as they turned and looked at Makoto and then at Hotaru. And it was Hotaru they were looking at, for her fuku had mostly faded away.

"What's going on, your fuku are dissolving away?" Erion asked referring to Saturn and Pluto. But before any of them had a chance to respond Michiru and Rei collapsed to the ground.

"What now?" Makoto asked. Then turning to Ami, she asked, "Ami what's going on here? Is this some kind of trap left by Rubeus to kill us even if we win?"

Scanning everybody, Ami was not pleased one bit with what she saw. "I am not sure what the cause is, but our life forces are starting to fluctuate as well. The only one not affected is her." Ami said indicating Sailor Erion

_ Her powers must be still trying to awaken. _ Pluto thought as she compressed Usagi's chest. _ But with her soul fading, that only acts to drain the life from the others. Without the final element of the ritual there is no way for her to fully awaken. There is only one option left. _ "Minna-san, Usagi's soul is dieing. A powerful ritual was initiated during the battle, but a key component was missing and as a result she will die. Unfortunately, there is no way for us to get that missing component as it is years and maybe even decades if not more away from being ready."

"But, but…" Rei stuttered from where she had pulled herself up into a sitting position.

"Can we put her in a stasis crystal like was done when momma was hurt by the Prince Diamond's initial attack?" ChibiUsa asked, remembering how her mother had been frozen in that crystal to save her life, the event which had driven her to swipe the conveniently available time key to return to the past.

"Yes, Small Lady we can. And that is our only option. For if we don't all of us will die as well. Because of the ritual, our souls are now linked to hers and if hers dies ours will be pulled into oblivion as well." _ The planets and all life on them will die as well, but they don't need to worry about that right now. _ Pluto added to herself.

"How do we do this?" Makoto asked as she helped Rei onto her feet.

"Basically we will do a Planet Attack, but direct it at Sailor Moon. When our energy hits her, it will react to form the stasis crystal automatically. So henshin yo." And so with a series of henshin, the group formed a ring around their princess, some members getting help to stand from others. Erion watched the proceeding from the side, not knowing if adding her energy into the mix would be beneficial or would hurt Sailor Moon. And so she watched as the group summoned all the power they could, completely draining away their fuku and glamour magic. Then with a final cry they threw that energy at their leader, each of them passing out as they gave all they could. But, when the light of the blast subsided she could tell that they were successful, for a crystal remained.

Setsuna was the first to recover. She was soon followed by Makoto and Ami. Dragging herself over to the crystal, Ami began running some scans to make sure that Usagi was stable inside of it. Satisfied she closed her computer.

"Small Lady!" Setsuna suddenly exclaimed, awaking the rest of the group. Turning they all saw ChibiUsa fading away herself.

"Pu what's happening to me?" a very fearful ChibiUsa asked.

Silently cursing the fates, Setsuna responded with one word "Causality." Summoning her powers again and striding quickly up to the little girl she ripped the Garnet Orb off her staff and dropping the for the moment useless staff to the ground. Grabbing a hold of the orb with both hands she raised it above her head and began a spell:

"By the authority you have given me,

"I pledge my soul again to you.

"Unlock the gates of causality and bring forth the path to let me walk beside you.

"Strike down those who stand before us

"Temporal Disruption!"

With the completion of the spell, the Orb appeared to shatter into a blinding ball of temporal energy, which hovered for a moment in front of Pluto before she grabbed a hold of it and slammed it forcibly into the vanishing ChibiUsa. Slamming into the smaller girl, ChibiUsa screamed out in intense pain. Every cell of her body felt like it was being pulled in five directions at once. Then with a flash of energy, the crystal time key around her neck began glowing as well. Feeling yet another even greater wave of pain, ChibiUsa was forced down to the ground. Running up beside her friend, Hotaru pulled the withering girl into her arms. Given that ChibiUsa's body was still glowing from what ever Pluto had done to her, Hotaru did not want to try using her healing magic and was left to just to try to calm the young girl with words and her hands.

"Pluto what did you do to ChibiUsa!" Rei demanded.

"The only thing I could do and now I will pay the price, goodbye my friends." Pluto replied as her own temporal energy suddenly exploded outwards from her body, shooting in every which direction. The energy traveled but a few feet before it vanished leaving only the base of Pluto's staff as evidence that Sailor Pluto had ever been there.

With blank looks, everyone tuned to look at Ami hoping that she might have some answers. "Minna-san, I am not really sure what happened here either." Ami admitted.

"I think I might know." Sailor Erion said. Her answer was of course met with hostile gaze from some members of the group, blaming her for what had happened. "When that girl there began to vanish, Sailor Pluto spoke one word – 'causality'. Can any of you tell me if there is something special about that girl?"

"Ah, I understand now." Ami replied, seeing where Erion was leading. "ChibiUsa is from the future, she is the future daughter of Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Kamen. But the probability of her never being born is now quite substantial. Sailor Moon could be trapped between life and death in that crystal for all of eternity. And even if we can eventually free her from it, there is the end result of the ritual which she initiated."

"So I will never be born now?" ChibiUsa asked in a small voice.

"Hai, the future you knew is now completely gone and you were in the process of vanishing with it as well. But that spell Pluto cast must have shielded you from the effects of time allowing you to exist even though your past won't ever exist." Ami said. And with that they all realized what had happened to Sailor Pluto, she must have paid the price for using a forbidden power.

"One question, are our powers stable now?" Minako asked.

Scanning each of them, Ami said, "Our life forces look stable, but the only why to know for sure will be to try to henshin."

"In that case, Minna-san henshin yo!" Minako commended.

Seven flashes of light later everyone was in the Sailor form except for ChibiUsa. "Moon prism power make-up!" ChibiUsa cried a third time. "Why isn't it working?" she asked as she began to cry. Sailor Saturn who was beside her, pulled her into a hug, as she looked over at Mercury.

"Of course, I should have realized it before. Gomen-nasai ChibiUsa-chan. But there is no way for you to henshin anymore. The power for your henshin was the shadow Ginzuishou in your broach, which drew its power from the real Ginzuishou. But…" Ami did not need to finish her explanation as they didn't need to be reminded about Usagi's condition.

"But what about Usagi's ability to henshin before we got the Ginzuishou, didn't she say she was a mage and her henshin was just a spell she was remembering from her past life." Jupiter asked.

"Hai you're right. However, I don't think she ever taught ChibiUsa that spell. I think the broach was just enchanted with the spell." Mercury said, which was confirmed by a sullen nod from ChibiUsa. "In time, ChibiUsa might be able to figure out the spell, or maybe Luna or Artemis will know something, or maybe I can find something in my computer. However, ChibiUsa I wouldn't get your hopes up. Also your powers would be severely limited with the power of the now Moon locked away."

ChibiUsa nodded her understanding, before hiding her face completely in Saturn's chest. Knowing that ChibiUsa was not going to have the energy to stand for much longer, Hotaru directed ChibiUsa down to the ground and into her lap. While it might seem a bit wrong for her to be glad to have the need to comfort ChibiUsa, she had a very good reason for wanting it, as it allowed her to forget for the moment about what she had done when her body was controlled by just the power of Saturn. Sleepless nights in the future lay ahead for her. But for now she could forget for the moment what she did by focusing on helping ChibiUsa in her time of need.

It was during this time that an ambulance along with dozens of military vehicles pulled up beside the destroyed remains of the Mugen Academy. Hearing their arrival, Venus and Mercury left the others to go meet the new arrivals. While Venus went up to the officer who appeared to be in charge of the military forces, Mercury headed to where the EMTs were grabbing equipment out of the ambulance.

"Arigatoo for getting here so soon." Mercury said. "Unfortunately, the injury Sailor Moon is suffering from is beyond what medicine can do. We have placed her into a stasis crystal, so that we might be able to save her at some future point. However, there are still injured civilians around the school grounds."

Walking up to Sailor Mercury, the paramedic said, "I'm sorry for your loss. I wish there was something that we could do for her. We'll just have to hold onto the hope that the future can discover a cure for her injury."

"Arigatoo." Mercury replied and with that the EMTs were heading off into the remains of the school. They were soon joined by military medics along with a couple of soldiers for escort. Meeting back up with Venus who had finished briefing the top officers of the rapid response force, the two of them headed back into to where the group was.

Hearing the return of Venus, the others looked up at the two. All around the expressions were the vacant ones of a hollow victory. "It is time for us to go. Jupiter and Uranus can the two of you manage Sailor Moon by yourselves?" seeing the nods, Venus began leading the group out into the fading light of the afternoon. Walking beside Jupiter and Uranus who were carrying Usagi's crystal, Endymion carried his daughter vowing to himself that he would raise ChibiUsa and Hotaru in a way that would have made Usagi proud.

* * *

Guarding the gate of Spacetime, Q could only watch on in horror as Cosmos fell to the ground, her soul dieing. Silently grieving, with a pair of tears forming, Q waved his left hand, shutting the gates, while he turned his back to those doors which now only held sorrow for him. Now taking a step away, his thoughts turned to how he could have prevented the death of his comrade in mischief and one true friend. But as his powers were useless in the bane that Cosmos inhabited, he intellectually knew that there was nothing he could have done. And yet this "enlightened and advanced" being, which was a member of the continuum found himself feeling very human emotions over Cosmos's death. And with those human emotions of sorrow and second guessing came one more – vengeance. It was Janeway who had set this disaster into motion and so, _ Janeway your crew is going to pay penance for this. _ Q thought. No longer was the stumbling and playing with technology far beyond their level of understanding that certain Federation captains were known for amusing. _ By the time I am done with you and your crew, Janeway you are going to wish that I had decided to visit a plague of Tribbles upon the Federation. Cosmos's death will be avenged! _

As wrapped up as Q was in his sorrow and planning of vengeance on the crew of the starship Voyager, he did not notice the arrival of a second being to the megaverse's singularity of creation. And so he jumped up into the air when a child spoke the words, "Chibi-Chibi" from right behind him.

With a racing heart (or what goes for one in a Q), Q quickly spun on his heals once he landed. And as he spun, his soul was buoyed by anticipation of what he hoped he would find, which to his delight proved to be true for there in front of him now stood the child form of Cosmos. "How?" was the only word he voiced before he threw himself at the child and pulled her up into a hug.

"Chibi-Chibi" was all that ChibiChibi said before snuggling into Q's embrace, an embrace that Q would never let any other being ever see.

"Cosmos why are you in your child-form?" Q asked after he finally let go of ChibiChibi.

"Child form?" ChibiChibi repeated before giving a smirk.

At bit annoyed at ChibiChibi's habit of repeating words instead of giving answers, Q was about to demand the child return to her adult-form when he noticed that the little girl's smile looked a bit mischievous. Suddenly getting a very bad feeling about the situation, Q quickly spun around to regard the gate as he snapped his finger to force the doors open again. And he was just in time to see Pluto's body explode in a cascade of temporal energy.

Now turning back to ChibiChibi, Q asked, "But if Pluto is now dead, then who is the time guardian." But Q already knew the answer; the mischievous smile on ChibiChibi was all the confirmation he needed. _ But there has to be something more than me just being the new Time Guardian for ChibiChibi to look like the proverbial cat which has eaten the canary. _ Q thought to himself. He did not have a long wait for his answer, for as soon as he had formulated the question in his mind a massive column of temporal energy erupted from the gate and zeroed in on his body, enveloping it. When the energy finally died down, Q's first words were "Wonder if I get any new powers to play with…." But that thought did not continue for any longer than the time that it took him to realize that ChibiChibi was now standing beside a very expensive looking full length mirror – a mirror that reflected a female Q outfitted in a very pink and frilly Sailor Fuku with hearts and unicorns decorating the skirt. Instead Q yelled "Curse you Cosmos!" as he lunged for ChibiChibi.

Now Q should have easily been able to tackle the little child, since she was too busy lying on the ground laughing her head off. But some how Q missed and when he picked himself back up he realized that ChibiChibi was somehow off to his left. Not pausing to wonder how that could be he tried again and this time found ChibiChibi off to his right and so he tried again. This continued for another half dozen lunges before Q had calmed down sufficiently that his superior intellect that he always bragged to Picard about finally reasserted itself and he realized that Cosmos was obviously playing with the spatial structure of this realm.

"So do you have anything to say for yourself Cosmos?"

"Chibi-Chibi?" was her only reply.

"You know it would be easier to hold a conversation if you returned to your adult form." Q suggested, knowing that the instant Cosmos took her true form he would be back to normal. After all she was the true guardian and he was obviously just a fill in until Cosmos took her place as the Guardian.

ChibiChibi however just shook her head and then with the words, "Ba bye Q-chan," she took a step backwards and into the Gate of Spacetime which was now directly behind her.

Seeing ChibiChibi take that step back into the suddenly present portal, Q made one final lunge. Unfortunately for Q, ChibiChibi also side stepped to the side of the portal and so she did not enter the timestream, but Q did.

Hitting the ground hard, she suddenly found her mind clouded as she experienced the loss of omniscience that is associated with the Time Guardian entering the time stream. However, dealing with the muddled head and trying to figure out how to get back to the singularity was quickly moved to the back burner as she began to pay attention to the cat calls and whistles that were being directed her way. Now kneeling on her legs, Q took in her surroundings and was forced to gulp as she realized that she was surrounded by a group of very unsavory men for she had landed in a federal penitentiary exercise yard.

"My my, I must have been a very good boy lately for such a delectable broad to have come pay me a visit." The nearest convict said.

Snapping her fingers to turn them all into bugs, Q felt her stomach fall away as she realized that her continuum powers were still useless here in this bane. All she had were her powers as the Time Guardian, powers which she knew nothing about. Gulping in fear and her eyes desperately searching for a way out, Q yelled "Curse you Cosmos!"

End Chapter

* * *

The version of ChibiChibi that I am using in my story is partially based off of the Manga ChibiChibi in which she is Sailor Cosmos. But unlike the manga version where ChibiChibi is the result of Cosmos running away from her fight with Sailor Chaos because she doesn't have the power that she once had as Sailor Moon, this ChibiChibi is just a form that Cosmos can take at will – a form that is the innocence of Usagi distilled. As ChibiChibi she is exempt from some of the requirements of time such as not spending too much time with a future or past version of yourself and as ChibiChibi she isn't the Time Guardian. Though as ChibiChibi her mind and form are that of a child.

Hopefully with the above explanation of ChibiChibi and that final scene at the Gate of Spacetime some you will hold off nuking me for what happened to Usagi (or at least long enough for me to get a few more chapters out:) ).

In case you forgot from the beginning of the story a bane is the scientific name for a plane of existence or dimension in sci-fi/fantasy. And the megaverse is the same as the multi-verse.

And yes that final bit of the scene with Q and ChibiChibi is Ranma ½ motivated. Q's "Curse you Cosmos" will soon expand to include Ryouga's favorite line as Q is forced to deal with the perverts. And when he/she? reflects on the first time he met Cosmos, those words will have even more meaning. Well hopefully Q will remember the excellent jumping ability of the Sailor Senshi before he gets into too much trouble.

The next chapter will be a combination epilogue/prologue for the next book and Youko will make a return appearance along with more of Q's fate. Unfortunately I don't have the next chapter already and since it has been quite a delay in getting this one out I am not going to wait for the next one. Anyways, the final scene did not originally exist when I was thinking about holding off on releasing this chapter till the epilogue was ready. But that scene should away your concerns.

There are no new stories recommendations for your reading, as I have gotten myself a nice little backlog of stories to read. Though if you want a good anime series to watch, give "Witch Hunter Robin" a try.


	37. Epilogue

**The Fragility of Time**  
**BOOK TWO: "Falling Towards Apotheosis"**  
**The Fragility of Time BOOK TWO: "Falling Towards Apotheosis"**  
**Epilogue**  
**Author: etj4Eagle**  
Published: 4/16/05

Disclaimer: A reminder I own none of the characters of this story, all rights are owned by others. However, the unique circumstances of the story are mine. If you distribute the story, do only so freely and inform me of where you post it.

With the afternoon beginning to wear late, Ikuko was busying herself in the kitchen preparing dinner for her family. She was a bit concerned that Usagi hadn't returned yet, given what had happened last night. But, she figured that Usagi was probably just with Hotaru and ChibiUsa. After all, Hotaru's excitement over being cured of her illness would have to be contagious and she knew her daughter too well. Usagi would forget about any of her own ills so as to make sure that Hotaru and ChibiUsa had the time of their lives.

Opening the fridge, Ikuko removed the tuna she had bought at the market. She and Usagi had gone there after dropping Hotaru off to see her father. They had only been there about fifteen minutes when Usagi told her that something was up and that she was needed. Ikuko hadn't wanted Usagi to run off to fight, but she managed to squash her own motherly fears so that Usagi could be a "mother" to the other girls. There of course being no way that Usagi would ever let those girls go off to fight without her being there. Now realizing that she hadn't heard from Usagi after that battle, Ikuko let the thought cross her mind for a few moments that maybe Usagi's tardiness had to do with the battle. But she dismissed that as her just being paranoid.

Now opening one of the cupboards, Ikuko had to duck out of the way as a pair of mugs came flying out. Not having the presence of mind to try to catch them, she instead watched as the two of them fell and hit the floor shattering. Bending down to pick up the broken pieces, she realized that the two cups that had fallen to the ground were the mugs that Usagi and ChibiUsa always used when the girls were over. _Now why did I open that cupboard, there is nothing in there that I needed for preparing dinner. _Ikuko thought to herself as a cold shiver ran through her body.

With the large pieces now all collected, she stood up and walked over to the trash can to throw them out. _ChibiUsa is not going to be happy that her favorite mug was destroyed. I think Usagi had bought that for her the second day she was here with us. _Ikuko thought to herself, remembering that last memory with a warm feeling as she got a broom and dust pan and began cleaning up the mess. She remembered how surprised she was to learn that Usagi had used her own money to buy ChibiUsa that mug, especially since she knew that Usagi had been saving that money up to buy something that she and Molly had been gushing about for the past few weeks. Usagi had probably pestered her at least three times a day during that time for advances on her allowance and it was only that morning that Usagi had received the final bit of allowance that she needed. And it was not just the mug that Usagi had bought for ChibiUsa, but a school uniform as well and not once did Usagi ask her for help in outfitting ChibiUsa.

When she had seen ChibiUsa the following morning decked out in the uniform for the elementary school, she had felt negligent for not having thought about that before and a bit surprised that Usagi hadn't ask her for a reimbursement the previous night. Over the following weeks she found that Usagi would accept help in buying stuff for ChibiUsa, but never would she accept after the fact reimbursement. It made Ikuko proud when she realized that Usagi was actually wanting to spend her own money on ChibiUsa. Of course she would occasionally hear Usagi whine to herself when she thought no one else (other than maybe Luna) was listening about having to spend her arcade money on ChibiUsa, but Ikuko had also realized then that those whines were only halfhearted. Not wanting Usagi to sacrifice everything for ChibiUsa, Ikuko and Kenji had raised her allowance with the stipulation that she use the extra money for mother-daughter activities with ChibiUsa, knowing that that would be the only way to get Usagi to actually use the money on herself. And that only worked because Usagi still had the innocence of a small child in her heart and would whole heartedly enjoy herself in the same activities that ChibiUsa did.

Pausing in making the sashimi, Ikuko allowed her body to feel warm over those memories. Usagi had really matured during those first few days, going from a slacker with no motivation to a devoted parent. _Maybe we should have let Usagi get that puppy she had wanted a few years ago. Her lack of responsibility was just due to her not having anything that required her to be really responsible. _Ikuko now realized. Putting the knife down, Ikuko looked up at the clock and was surprised with how late it had gotten. During her trip down memory lane, a few hours had passed. With her body working basically on autopilot dinner was just about ready; all she had left was to finish the rolls she was currently working on.

Hearing the door open, Ikuko thought to herself, _That must be Usagi and ChibiUsa now. Wonder if Hotaru is with them? _Now picking up the knife to slice the cucumber she was a bit puzzled by why the two girls were being so quiet. Figuring that ChibiUsa probably had just worn herself out running around with Hotaru, Ikuko went back to her preparations.

"Tsukino-san?" came the slightly timid voice of Minako.

"What is it Minako?" Ikuko asked as she paused and looked over at the girl. Then noticing traces of what looked like guilt and sorrow on the other girl's face, Ikuko continued, "Something has happened."

"Hai, The enemy is defeated, but… Something happened to Usagi. She's safe for the moment but…" Minako fumbled.

Now remembering the fallen mugs, Ikuko suddenly realized that something had to have gone wrong, that this battle hadn't been one of their normal ones. Memories of letters stashed away upstairs in Usagi's bedroom, suddenly came back to her, as Ikuko brushed past Minako.

Walking into the living room, Ikuko came to a sudden stop as she caught her first glimpse of the figure in the crystalline coffin. While she didn't have a good view of who it was, her heart already knew the truth – Usagi had done what Ikuko knew was going to happen one of these days, she had given her life for her friends. Falling to her knees, she looked up at Ami and asked the blue haired girl, "Tell me what happened."

And with that request, Ami with the occasional help of Mamoru and Sailor Erion began to recount the events of the day, beginning with Erion explaining exactly what had initially happened the previous night when she had attacked Usagi. As the explanation moved onto the battle at Mugen, Ikuko caught Mamoru's eye and with a silent request had him bring ChibiUsa over to her. Wrapping ChibiUsa up in her arms, she began to give the child some comfort, knowing that ChibiUsa's pain would have to be even more than her own and knowing that she needed to reassure ChibiUsa that she did not blame her for what had happened to Usagi and that ChibiUsa was still her granddaughter. And as she gave ChibiUsa comfort, she was able to gain comfort herself from those actions.

For his part, Mamoru tried to comfort Hotaru the best he could, now that he didn't have to split his attention. Unfortunately he didn't really know this newest member of the team that well. Most of the time when ChibiUsa played with Hotaru Usagi was the only one around. _Well I'll just have to use the reasons why I love Usako as a guide on how to comfort her. After all, it wouldn't matter if Usako did or did not know Hotaru, she would still be able to comfort her just as well. _Mamoru thought to himself as he gently rocked the shell shocked girl while Ami continued her story. A little while later, he felt a weight on his left arm, looking over to the side he caught sight of Luna giving him a slight tug. Knowing exactly what she wanted, he adjusted the way he was holding Hotaru so that Luna could leap up and curl up in front of Hotaru. And Hotaru immediately latched onto the kitten, pulling her up to rest just below her chin. Looking down now with a slight smile on his face; Mamoru could clearly see that the healing was finally beginning for Hotaru.

* * *

"…. And that was how Pluto kept ChibiUsa from vanishing now that the future has changed so much." Ami said ending her explanation.

Looking over at his wife, Kenji, who had arrived home during the middle of the explanation, received a nod from her for his unspoken question. Then turning back to look at the assembled group of girls and two guys, he said, "Minna-san, you don't have to worry about either of us blaming you for what has happened. We both know that all of you would have gladly given your life to keep Usagi alive, just as she would do the same for you. As much as I hate to say it, both Ikuko and I knew that this day would eventually come. We have already been forced once to face the harsh truth of what it means for you girls…" and then looking at the two guys "and guys to be out fighting this evil that has of late come. When you went off to face Beryl in the artic, Usagi left behind with us letters that we were to give to each of your families if you didn't make it back. Since then, she has periodically updated the letters. Each of those letters is written on the assumption that she would be dead as well. As much as a parent protects their children, Usagi wanted to shield each of you."

"But she was our princess that is our duty." Rei interrupted.

"Hai, I know. But her heart did not see it that way. Instead it saw that as even more of a reason why she had to protect each and everyone of you. That if someone was not going to come back alive it was going to be her and not any of you."

With that explanation, each of the girls, guys, and cats lowered their heads to say a prayer to their departed princess. Then one by one they stood and walked over by the crystal coffin to say a goodbye for now to their princess. The longest of goodbye's came from Rei, whose words of parting turned to tears and accusations of leaving her alone. Knowing how the hotheaded priestess felt, Makoto and Ami led her away from Usagi's body and then out the door, deciding that it would be best to walk her all the way home. Of all of them, her love for Usagi probably came third, following just after Mamoru and ChibiUsa.

Before long it was just Mamoru and Hotaru who were left in the Tsukino household. Walking over to where Mamoru was now standing, holding Hotaru in his arms, Kenji opened his arms to take the other girl up. "I know that I wasn't always the warmest to you Mamoru-san." Kenji said as Hotaru was transferred to his arms. "But know that our doors are always open for you. I just didn't want my little girl to grow up, but she has and into such a wonderful woman and I know that it is because of you that she has been able to weather all of the hardships that life has thrown her way. Arigatoo." Kenji said as he gave the other guy a slight bow, as much as he was willing to try with Hotaru in his arms.

"Thanks Kenji-san. You and Ikuko's acceptance means a lot to me. Usagi gave me the one thing I have not had this lifetime, a family. If you don't mind I would like to be a father to ChibiUsa and Hotaru. I know my involvement with ChibiUsa isn't what it should have been, but I owe it to Usako to raise our daughters properly."

"Hai, we would love to have you as part of our family."

"Arigatoo. I know this won't be as easy for me as it was for Usagi, but I will try my best. And I know that in a few years, I will be very much understanding where your initial reaction to me came from when ChibiUsa begins to date." Mamoru said with a slight look of horror crossing his face as he hoped that maybe that would be another 900 years off in the future. "I think for at least the time being that it would be best if the two girls remained here with you and Ikuko. Living a college life, my apartment would not be the best place for these two to be living, especially right now. They need the tighter watch you and Ikuko can give."

"Hai, I understand. I don't think either you are them are ready for that step yet. Not even Usagi would have been ready to take care of ChibiUsa when things were going good if she was living on her own. You need to be able to focus on your studies, as you need to think as much about the future that the three of you will be living as the present. Let Ikuko and I worry about the present."

"Hai that's right Mamoru-san. Let Kenji and I be the pillars for your family. Together we will all get through this and make Usagi proud. Remember someday she will return to us. We just have to be there for her when that day comes. Now why don't you stay for dinner with us."

* * *

The next morning, Ikuko was vacuuming the house when she heard a knock at the front door. Turning of the vacuum cleaner, she made her way over to the door and then opening the door she was surprised to see Ami's mother there. But then very quickly her mind reminded her that Rikou knew about Ami being Sailor Mercury.

"Konnichiwa Mizuno-san, what brings you here this morning?" Ikuko asked while greeting her visitor.

"Ami told me about what happened during yesterday's battle and I thought I would come over to see how you were holding up. And truth be told, I am in need of some support myself."

"Hai, I understand. Come on in then. Let me put away the vacuum cleaner and then I'll get us some tea."

"Arigatoo, Ikuko-san." Rikou said as she slipped off her shoes before entering the house proper.

"Rikou-san, if you wouldn't mind could you check on ChibiUsa and Hotaru. The two of them are up in Usagi's room, I am keeping the two of them home from school today, neither of them got much sleep last night."

"No trouble." Rikou said before heading up the stairs. Walking down the hallway, she silently opened the door to what she figured had to be Usagi's room. Then walking into the room she released a gasp as she saw the crystal that now contained Usagi, which had been moved upstairs the previous night by Mamoru and Kenji before Mamoru had headed on home. While she did know that Usagi was here at the Tsukino household, she hadn't been really prepared to see the girl. Drawn by a medical curiosity that she couldn't pull away from, she walked up to the crystal and placed a hand on it while she peered into its depths. The crystal felt different than any other mineral she ever touched, but the sight she saw chilled her blood. For Usagi's expression was not one of peace that she had expected to find, but one of someone in great pain. Releasing another gasp of surprise, she stumbled backwards for a few steps, but managed to catch her balance and avoid falling down.

However, her actions hadn't been sufficiently noiseless to prevent the awakening of ChibiUsa and Hotaru. Opening her eyes, ChibiUsa looked up and was a bit confused to see Ami's mother there in the room. "Mizuno-san?" she asked.

"Hai, ChibiUsa-chan. Gomen-nasai for waking you, your grandmother asked me check on the two of you and seeing Usagi like this was…" Rikou explained, trailing off at the end.

"Hai," ChibiUsa replied, knowing what Rikou was trying to say for she felt it far worse. Then breaking down again, she said "I miss momma and this time I don't have Usagi." as she began to cry again.

Hotaru, who had also been awoken, instantly reacted; sitting up as well, she pulled ChibiUsa into her embrace letting the pink haired girl bury her face in her chest. As Hotaru tried her best to comfort ChibiUsa, Rikou knelt down and after catching Hotaru's eye, let Hotaru transfer ChibiUsa to her arms. Then giving a little grunt from the weight of picking up ChibiUsa, she stood back up with ChibiUsa snuggled in her arms.

"Let's go on downstairs. Tsukino-san is making some tea and it will do the two of you good to get some food into you, even if you don't feel like eating that much." Rikou said to Hotaru, adding the last part as she noticed that Hotaru did not look that much better off than ChibiUsa. _And I need to talk to Ikuko about moving these two girls to a different room; they don't need the constant reminder of what has happened to Usagi. _

By the time the threesome arrived downstairs, Ikuko had the tea ready and some cakes to go with it. Having heard Mizuno-san's stumbling from downstairs, she had gotten out place setting for both ChibiUsa and Hotaru as well. And meeting Rikou at the base of the stairs, Ikuko took ChibiUsa into her own arms before leading her friend over to the table. As the four of them sat down, Ikuko kept ChibiUsa in her lap while Hotaru took a place to herself. However, she didn't stay there alone for too long, as Rikou knowing that Hotaru was also in need of some comfort moved her place to be next to the black haired girl's, a move that very quickly resulted in Hotaru resting against her.

At first the two adults chit chatted for a while as they tried to coax the two girls into eating something. While they weren't able to get either girl to eat as much as they would have liked, they did at least manage to get each of them to eat something, which was sufficient for them.

* * *

"How are you holding up?" Ikuko asked Rikou, finally breaking the ice after returning from putting on some anime for the two girls in the other room.

"I don't know, but shouldn't I be asking you that question?" Rikou replied

"You probably should, but this is still all fairly new to you, it was not all that long ago when you learned about Ami being Sailor Mercury. For me I have already had to face the real possibility that I was saying goodbye to my daughter for good once before. I want to show you something." Ikuko said as she picked up an envelope that had been lying next to her place on the table and handed it over to Rikou.

"What is this?" Rikou asked as she saw that the envelope was addressed to her.

"It is something that Usagi wrote some months back before a battle which she and the others stood a good chance of not coming back from alive. Before she left she handed me these letters, there is one for each of the families of the girls. While she tried to put on a brave face that night, I could tell that she did not believe that she was going to return alive from that battle. Her goal was to stop Beryl, whatever the cost.

"And from what I understand, she, ChibiUsa and Chiba were the only ones to have survived that battle. The other girls were all killed, but somehow Usagi was able to work a miracle and brought them all back to life."

"Ami died?" Rikou asked, disbelief in her voice as it began to crack.

"Hai. Both Usagi and ChibiUsa have been very tight lipped about what happened that evening, not wanting to relive the nightmare, but for several weeks after that event Usagi would be periodically wracked my nightmares over what she had witnessed. While I don't know if her nightmares were what really happened or hideous perversions of it, what I heard those nights gave me my own nightmares, for each of the girls apparently died a very violent death." At this point Ikuko trailed off in her explanation so as to give Rikou a chance to process what she had just said. Then continuing, "I take it that Ami has kept things like that from you."

"Hai she has."

"Usagi did the same. But over the months I have learned a fair bit of what she wanted to shield me from knowing, the horrors of being a soldier. Each time one of the girl's gets badly hurt, Usagi has nightmares for the next night or two. But even during those nightmares her subconscious still looks out for ChibiUsa for she never tosses and turns. Instead the only way you could tell she was in a nightmare is by watching her face."

"I believe that. From the times I have watched Usagi interact with my daughter and even more so from the few times when the two of us have talked, I know that Usagi would put everyone else before her. I am sorry to say that when I first met Usagi, I was not very impressed and on many occasions I was about to tell Ami to have nothing more to do with your daughter. But each time when I was about ready to do so, I would see Ami come home from having spent an afternoon with Usagi and see her in such happy sorts that I couldn't bare to carry through with my decision."

"You have nothing to apologize for. I myself was worried that Usagi was heading down the wrong path, but then ChibiUsa arrived and I learned about her other side. During those first few weeks I would grill Luna on how Usagi was as Sailor Moon and while in many ways her performance there wasn't that much better, when things mattered Usagi would always pull through. But then with the arrival of ChibiUsa, Usagi appeared to almost overnight decide to grow up. Every now and then I still see the old Usagi and it warms my heart, but she appears to have decided that nothing is more important to her than her daughter's happiness – even her own childhood.

"Kenji and I were actually starting to worry a bit that she was sacrificing too much and were going to start taking a bit more responsibility for ChibiUsa so that she could spend some more time with her friends. And when she finished up with this school year we were going to surprise her by telling her that we would watch ChibiUsa for her summer vacation so that she and the rest of the girls could go spend a couple weeks off just by themselves…." At this point Ikuko finally broke down in tears. Rikou let Ikuko have her time to let the pain out and once the tears began to dry, Ikuko continued. "Sorry about that."

"Iie, you don't need to apologize. You deserve to be allowed to grieve. And remember Usagi is still alive even if she is trapped in that crystal for now. And knowing my own daughter, she won't stop until she finds a way to save Usagi and I am sure the others are the same way. As much as Usagi would give anything for her friends, that love goes two ways and each of the girls would do the same for Usagi. But until that day comes, there are two girls here who need your love and guidance. You can do your daughter proud by raising ChibiUsa and Hotaru for her."

"Hai, I know. And Kenji, I and Mamoru will do our best to raise the two of them. I just hope that I can convince the social workers that Hotaru would be best off here, but I am afraid that is not a realistic outcome." Ikuko replied as she looked down at her tea. Rikou had nothing to reply for she too saw it as a long shot that the Tsukinos would be awarded custody of Hotaru. And especially when the social workers learned that the eldest child was in some kind of coma due to mysterious circumstances.

* * *

At the Gate of Spacetime an extremely cute little child with heart shaped odangos sat at a child's desk playing with finger paints. She had already made liberal use of the blue, red and green paints making a nice array of hand prints, lines and just blotches. Backing away from her piece of art, she looked at the paper for a few minutes while her face crumbled in deep thought. Finding it to be lacking a little green in the upper left corner; she plunged two of her fingers into the paint and then placed a pair of green lines on the paper. Now happy with how it looked, she bent down to her right where she had placed her stamps. Picking up the first stamp, she made sure to get plenty of ink on it and her clothes before place a nice prominent rabbit stamp on the paper. Then getting a second stamp she repeated the process, this time leaving a series of fireflies.

Happy with her work, ChibiChibi carefully picked up her art supplies, dumping half of the paint on the ground and crated them over to a toy box that was now sitting beside the gate. Then after dumping the items into the box and closing the lid she returned to her desk and picked up the painting she had been working on. Carefully rolling up the sheet of paper, with only a few creases, she also gathered up the other two rolls that were on the ground beside the desk. Both of these were also results of her finger painting, though on one she had used the bunny stamp twice and on the other she had used the bunny stamp and the heart stamp once. Now with the three rolls gathered up, she walked over to the gate, which had opened and tossed the three items out into the timestream with a happy exclamation of, "Chibi-Chibi."

With that taken care of she looked over to the left of the gate where a nice bubble bath was setup and paused to consider if she wanted go get cleaned up and play with her bath toys. She thought about this for a quite a few minutes before she finally decided that she wanted to play one more game before bath and bed time. Now returning to her toy box, she pulled out a fishing rod and a set of plastic fish. Then after walking so that she stood in front of the gate, she tossed the plastic fish on in.

With a bright smile on her face, ChibiChibi gave a cast of the plastic fishing rod into the swirling energy of the timestream and then with a yank pulled one of the plastic fish back on out. Releasing the fish from the rod she tossed it on the ground and with her head cocked slightly to the side she watched it for a few moments. Seeing that it wasn't going to do anything, she just shrugged her shoulders and returned to casting into the timestream to catch the remaining fish.

The sixth fish she pulled out from the gate, however, behaved differently than the others when she tossed it on the ground. This one shortly after being dropped began to glow while its surface became translucent. With a questioning "Chibi-Chibi?" ChibiChibi watched the plastic fish closely as a black insect like leg reached up and out of the toy to be followed soon by a second leg.

Now yelling "Chibi-Chibi!" at the creature that was trying to escape from the fish, ChibiChibi quickly picked up the fish and tossed it back. Then turning back from the gate, she made a second check and a fifth check to make sure that the creature had indeed been tossed back from whence it came. Finally satisfied, ChibiChibi once again picked up her rod and continued her fishing.

* * *

The remaining days of the week slowly passed by for each of the Sailor Senshi and those who knew the truth. Lost as they were in their own pain, their ability to comfort each other was limited and as the second week began, they each began to slip into their own little shells. Rei began to become consumed by her meditations, while Makoto began to become mixed up with gangs and fights again. For the tall girl, the insults and jokes that she had once been able to ignore, she could no longer do so so easily. But it was a crude comment about Usagi that had finally set her off. Going up against two high school boys, she had come within an inch of beating them out of their lives and receiving for her troubles a pair of cracked ribs and a broken arm. And then the next day at school she had been called into the principal's office. Already knowing she would once again be hopping from school to school as she was expelled from one after the other, she was a bit confused as to why Haruna-sensei was in the meeting. Going out on a limb for the troubled teen, Haruna had somehow convinced them that Makoto needed some leniency that it was the coma that her friend Usagi was in that had set her off. As a result, she instead of being expelled received a two week suspension followed by a medical excused absence until the school counselor had determined that she was mentally fit to return to class.

"Why did you do this for me?" Makoto asked Haruna as the two of them left the office.

"Because I know it is what Usagi would have wanted. She might have been one of my worst students academically, but she had the biggest heart and I do not want to see her friends destroy themselves. I have also taken the liberty of submitting your name to a group that maintains various community gardens around the city. Think of it as some community service as part of your punishment." Haruna said, knowing that she needed to convince Makoto that she had to take this treatment, which she had devised based on knowledge from Usagi about Makoto's love for plants and hoping that that would help her heal. "And I will also be stopping by your place after school a couple of times a week to see how you are doing and to drop off your work. Finals are only a month off and you will do Usagi proud by passing them all."

"Hai I will." Makoto said, knowing that especially now that using the phrase "make Usagi proud" would get her hook, line, and sinker every time. "And Arigatoo Haruna-sensei. Besides, Usagi no one has ever done this much for me."

"You are welcome and as long as you are ready to return to school and pass those exams when your suspension is finished that is all the thanks I will need."

"That I will." Makoto said as she gave her teacher a low bow before heading out of the school with a slight whistle and for the first time since the incident an upbeat outlook.

* * *

As for Haruka and Michiru, they found comfort in each other as they drew away from the rest of the girls. Being separated by age, they found it hard to interact with the other girls during this time of morning. Instead each of them focused as much as they could in their own art, painting and music for Michiru and racing for Haruka. In some ways they had it easier than the other four girls for in neither lifetime did they really know their princess that well. But, Usagi's personality was one that had very much integrated in their beings during the short period of time that they had known her this life and as a result both of them still felt her loss quite strongly.

* * *

Watching a Sailor Suited warrior outfitted in a suit with red and blue trim, Sailor Erion stood hidden in the shadows as she had each night since the incident. For the past ten nights she had watched as Minako snuck out of her room late at night to patrol the streets until the wee hours of the morning. The first night, Erion had come across her quite by accident. She hadn't approached Minako that night, instead just watching her. And each night since, she had followed Minako from her room and into the city. As a trained soldier and even more so as an officer, Erion knew exactly what was going through Minako's mind, it was something she had seen happen to quite a many other soldiers during her long career. Each night that Minako came out, she came out not to fight crime as Sailor V, but to find a reason to die. The only reason why Minako was still alive was because she hadn't yet found a battle that was worth dieing in, but Erion knew that wouldn't last and that was why she shadowed the girl each night.

"Didn't your mom ever tell you that stealing is wrong? I am Sailor Venus, code name Sailor V and in the name of the Moon I will punish you." V suddenly declared as she landed down in front of a group of men who were in the process of robbing a jewelry store.

"Hey its one of those sailor suited bimbos." One of the men said.

"Hai and Rubeus showed us what to do with them." The other replied with a smirk in a lower voice. And while V didn't hear that response, Erion did.

Still not taking action, Erion instead watched as the four men began to attack V using energy attacks, attacks which caught V by surprise. Thankfully the attacks were only moderately strong and therefore didn't hurt V too badly. But as Erion watched, she noticed that V was fighting with much less gusto than even the previous few nights, which could only mean one thing – that Minako had finally found a battle worth throwing her life away in.

Now moving to act, Erion jumped into the fray taking a blast that would have been fatal to V with her injuries, well not immediately fatal, but one that Minako would not have recovered from. While V was fighting to die, Erion was fighting to live and so she was able to properly block the attack before going on the offensive and a few minutes later a bound group of robbers were awaiting collection by the police.

"Arigatoo for your help." V said to Erion.

"Sailor Venus, I know what you were doing out there. I know that the loss of Usagi hurts, but that is no reason to go throw away your life."

"And what would you know about loss?" Venus asked, this time with animosity creeping into her voice.

"Much more than you realize. I watched as my entire world was destroyed by a great evil, an evil that I was helpless to stop. I still have scattered memories of my time under Galaxia. When I fall asleep at night I can still see my son, my own son, begging for his life before I butchered him while I was under Galaxia's control.

"I know you want to prove your worth to Usagi by finding a way to sacrifice your life to her ideals. But you know that is not what she would want. You need to find something to live for. Make her proud and live."

"Demo…" Venus started.

"Iie, you are the leader of the Sailor Senshi of this system now. They all will be looking to you for strength and you need to be strong to lead them. I didn't want to tell you this till after you had all recovered since it should still be a over a year off, but there is another evil coming this way, one that is far stronger than what you just fought. This evil is a consequence of the Sailor Wars."

"The Sailor Wars?"

"Hai, long before modern civilization arose on this planet two separate Sailor Wars swept the Galaxy. The first war is when the Sailor Senshi first appeared and in its aftermath colonies such as your Silver Millennium were founded around the Galaxy. And each of those colonies was protected by their own Sailor Senshi. Then over an eon ago, a great darkness began to sweep the Galaxy, a darkness now only known as the Darkness of the Failed Stars. All of the Sailor Senshi in the galaxy joined together to fight back this darkness, but only the greatest Senshi of them all, Galaxia was able to finally stop and seal away this darkness. However, it appears that even she was not strong enough, for the evil has corrupted her and now the evil has returned. But this time instead of just trying to overwhelm the Sailor Senshi and take their worlds, Galaxia is specifically hunting down the Sailor Senshi, stealing their souls.

"That was how Galaxia gained control of me and was what I was attempting to do to Sailor Moon. Galaxia will be coming here to Earth to hunt all you down. As you all are now, you won't be able to put up a fight; you all need to become stronger. And as their leader you will need to prepare them for the coming war using every means at you disposal." Erion said ending her explanation. Then seeing the light of understanding cross Minako's face, she knew that she wouldn't have to watch her so closely any more. It was a shame that fate had not given these children time to grow into adults before sending them such hardships, but it could not be helped. Then continuing, Erion added one last item, "If you need my help, Mizuno-san is graciously putting me up."

* * *

Walking out of the house and into the backyard, ChibiUsa headed over to a tree so that she could sit against it and think. She knew Hotaru was hurting badly, but she did not know how to help her friend, now her sister. Whenever she tried, all she could think about was her own pain. Hearing the padding of feet on the cobble stones of the back patio, ChibiUsa looked up and saw that both Luna and Diana were coming her way. Frowning, she knew why Diana was always around her nowadays, after all Diana was her guardian. But, Luna was not her guardian, she was her mother's. Of course given Usagi's current state it wasn't unreasonable that Luna would be watching over the current Moon princess. But ChibiUsa had Diana and she did not feel like having a second cat watching her 24-7.

Wait that's it! ChibiUsa thought to herself as she suddenly realized a solution that had been there since the beginning. After all why should she have both cats when Hotaru had none. Now getting up from where she had been sitting on the ground, she walked over to meet Luna and Diana. Then kneeling down, she reached out to pick up Diana, but left Luna on the ground.

"Luna-san, I know you feel the need to watch over me right now, but I have Diana." ChibiUsa said. Then with a wave, she silenced Luna's protest and instead continued. "But, Hotaru doesn't. And while I might see momma again one day, the same cannot be said for Hotaru. And Hotaru was forced to kill her father. Luna I want you to go be her guardian. And remember she is now also a princess."

"Hai, your Highness." Luna said with what goes for a bow amongst cats. She had recognized the air of command in ChibiUsa's request and knew that she couldn't refuse her princess. And ChibiUsa was right; Hotaru was now royalty of the Moon as well. She might not be by birth, but Usagi would never have made that distinction and she would soil Usagi's memory if she did. And so there was only one thing that Luna could do, agree and then turn and head into the house to the attic room where Hotaru and ChibiUsa were now living.

I wish momma would remember about her ability to take a human form. If she is going to watch over Hotaru, she would do much better like that. And then I could also be with ChibiUsa at school as well. Diana thought to herself as she once again tried to figure a way to break her charge and Hotaru out of their respective funks. She had hoped that by now the two girls might have at least begun to regain some of their happiness, but except for an occasional reaction the two were essentially zombies most of the day.

* * *

Looking up from her textbook, Ami noticed that the clock now read 3 A.M, an hour had past since she had last looked at it and she was still working on the same math equation. It was not that the equation was particularly hard, in fact the equation she was doing was just part of a warm up exercise for the night's real studying; studying which she was making no headway into. _Well I guess I should just head off to sleep, I am not doing myself any good just staring at the text book. At least this way I will be slightly more rested for tomorrow's practice exam. _Ami thought to herself as she closed her book.

Then getting up from her desk, she changed out of her clothes and into her pajamas before walking over to her bead and crawling into to it. With the covers pulled up to her chin she drifted off for the time into a dreamless slumber. However, the slumber was not dreamless for the other half of her soul.

_"Spirit why are you not helping Little One?" the silver fox asked._

_"Unlike you demon, I can not appear as a separate entity to Ami. It is your disturbance that has caused me to split away from her in your presence." The power of Mercury replied._

_Mulling over the power's explanation, Youko remained silent for a few moments. "You do realize that if something is not done Little One will die, she is already loosing her will to live."_

_"Hai I know. Even I'm in mourning, but as I am just a star I don't have the emotions to feel what she is feeling. Why do you even care?" Mercury asked with a sudden severe voice._

_"I have my reasons. You do not need to know them, only know that if we don't act Little One dies. It takes a fair bit of my and her energy to bring her to this dreamscape and she needs your help when she is awake as well." Youko replied. For Youko it was very hard to admit why he wanted to help Ami, his time merged with Suiichi had affected his demonic soul, such that it now held human emotions. Other demons would see him as easy prey because of this and so he kept quite, even though it might have made the spirit more trusting of him._

_Not sure what to say to the demon or even more how she could help the other half of her soul, Mercury looked up at the sky searching for answers. The stars here in Youko's created dreamscape were quite beautiful and Mercury was able to quickly find her guardian star on the horizon. Then seeing a full moon hanging in the sky, Mercury looked up at it and said a silent prayer for the star she served. Five minutes later she finally broke her gaze away for her prayer had been answered and she knew what she had to do. Now looking at Youko, she addressed him while she still had the courage to do what she knew she had to do "Demon, Ami does need help during the day hours, but I cannot provide her the help she needs during any part of the day. Instead, I am going to place my trust in you. Know this; I won't be able to protect her anymore."_

_"Huh?" Youko asked in confusion as to what the spirit meant. But before he could formalize his thoughts into a formal question, the spirit of Mercury began to shine so brightly, that the rest of the dreamscape was lost in her glow. As this was happening Youko first began to feel strength returning to his body, but then before long he found himself growing more and more tired until sleep took him._

_Beside the sleeping teenager a light began to glow by her chest. With time the glow elongated into a form that Ami instinctively grabbed a hold of. Finally after reaching its final size, the light faded away to reveal a silver-blue fox that was clutched tightly in the arms of the sleeping girl. As Ami's subconscious became aware of the soft fur that she was holding onto her sleep transitioned from a fitful nightmare that had recently started and into a truly peaceful slumber._

* * *

With eyes wide in fear, Sailor Q quickly leapt up from the ground where she had been laying. Unfortunately for him/her, she had leapt right up into the arms of a fairly burly inmate, who had been sentenced as a sexual predator.

"Must be my lucky day that this sweet young thing like me best of all," the inmate said as he roughly squeezed Q's chest.

Reacting on instinct, Q brought his arm around and decked the inmate knocking him into a nearby wall. Panting a bit, he fearfully eyed the rest of the inmates who had paused momentarily in their advance. Now standing up tall he hollered into the sky, "Curse you Cosmos, because of you I have seen Hell."

While the inmates didn't really understand why she had just stopped to holler out a curse at this Cosmos person, they didn't really care either. She was here and that was all they cared about. However, his sudden reversion from a very cute and what looked to be an underage girl to a man nearing middle age did cause them all to come to sudden halt and gasp. A few of the newer inmates turned a bit green at what they had just seen, though some of the others just shrugged their shoulders and wondered what else this man/girl had up his sleeve.

_Huh? I am back to normal? Yes! _Q thought to himself when he realized that he was no longer a girl. Unfortunately his happiness was very short lived as looking at the still advancing group of inmates who had predatory gleams in their eyes caused him to gulp and move slightly backwards. But now with the shock of having been turned into a girl gone, he was able to more rationally think about his situation. _As this is Cosmos's universe I still won't be able to use my powers, and I really don't know how to fight. _Q thought, not really liking the situation. _And of course there is never a prison guard around when you need one. However, as much as I might dislike it, if I am now a Sailor Senshi I have to have some kind of powers do work in this universe, otherwise I wouldn't be able to protect the gate of Spacetime. _Q thought to himself, now finally beginning to feel a bit better about the situation. Then swallowing his pride he let his body flow naturally with the transformation magic, hoping that it would instinctively know what to do. And that it did, for with a call of "Pink, frilly magical girl, unicorn and bunny, guardian of time, Make-Up!" he was turned back into his female Sailor form.

Now this time with an evil smile on his face he regarded the approaching hoard as he began to wonder what powers Cosmos had given him. He just hoped that using them wouldn't be as bad as his transformation sequence. However, he didn't hold much hope for that.

* * *

At the gate of Spacetime, ChibiChibi was still playing with her fishing set. Unhooking the current plastic fish that she had caught, it began to glow, just as some of the others had. And as she watched what appeared to be a squid made of energy come out of the fish, ChibiChibi began clapping her hands together and smiled while exclaiming "Chibi-Chibi!" Once fully out of the toy, the being began to morph into a humanoid shape. During the change, the brilliant white light being emitted by the energy being was too bright to look at, but when the change was completed, the light died down to reveal a glowing Cosmos to be standing there before ChibiChibi. Cocking her head, ChibiChibi asked the creature, "Chibi-Chibi?"

Looking around, the energy creature that was known as Kosh Naranek regarded the child before it with its own questioning gaze as it as well cocked its head. And deciding to go with the tried and true Vorlon question, the Vorlon ambassador who had been on his way to Babylon 5 asked, "Who are you."

To which ChibiChibi replied, "Who are you? What do you want? Chibi-Chibi. Where are you going? Chibi-Chibi." Then dropping her fishing rod, ChibiChibi turned and made a dash for the bathtub; dropping her clothing as she ran, leaving behind one very confused Vorlon. Diving into the bathtub with a big splash, she appeared to have completely forgotten about her guest.

Left by the gate, Kosh turned to regard the strange structure and found that its door was now closed and locked. Then turning away from the gate, he noticed that his encounter suit had somehow arrived in this strange realm. Not knowing what else to do, Kosh returned to the suit to await what might happen next.

End Book II

* * *

And with that Book II of this story is finally finished. However, the muse will not let me rest, so once I get back from all of my business travel it will be time to get started on Book III. Though unlike Book I and Book II, Book III will be posted as a separate entity.

The bit with Makoto and Haruna is a nod towards Comet Moon who had Haruna adopt Makoto in one of his stories. And of course, I then after writing that section had to go spend an hour reading my favorite parts of that story :).

Brownie points to anyone who figured out what why ChibiChibi was playing with finger paints and then fishing in the gate of Spacetime. And no this is not the start of a Babylon 5 crossover.

And no Kosh is not Cosmos. Those who have seen "The Fall of Night," the final Season 2 episode of Babylon 5 will know why he appeared before ChibiChibi like that.

And for those B5 fans, the first creature that tried to come out of one of ChibiChibi's fish toys was a shadow.

For some good stories to read while you wait for the next chapter, I would suggest Youma 1/2 by heed452 It is Sailor Moon crossover that has an interesting take on splitting Ranma's boy and girl side. Which happens as a result of a youma battle. The only thing that would hare been nicer was it the story was longer (wanted more of its goodness).

Another good story is "Usagi a Saiyon Child." by Kichigai Joshi. This a quite good AU crossover of Sailor Moon into DBZ. And even though I am not a large DBZ fan I quite liked it. It is long so a lot plenty of time to read it, I am still in the process of working my way through it. Though I was pleasantly surprised to find out that I had actually read some of the chapters in the later books of it before, for Comet Moon had shown them to me for comment way back when (Comet Moon has guest written a few of the chapters and they are just as good as the ones by the author). Too bad I wasn't into DBZ at all then, for I really missed out on reading a really good story, though even as a standalone chapter the Disney World chapter is a quite good one. :).

Things to look forward to in Book III: The Dead Moon Circus, Galaxia, and the Starlights making trouble in Tokyo. (Do you honestly think I would let the Sailors fight off one threat at a time?). At least one more escapade of Sailor Q (too bad for him that ChibiChibi is in such a playful mood). Cameos by your favorite wizarding students of Hogwarts. Dreams exploring the consequence of Ranma being allowed to be a Sailor Senshi. And the awakening of a new Sailor Senshi for which I have laid all the threads for.

Now to decide if I should have a certain mage learn the Dragon Slave. After all, glamour magic and flying really isn't that useful in hunting demons. Though two others might be in a similar position.


End file.
